


Sheltered

by holls



Category: The Avengers (2012), Thor (2011)
Genre: Captivity, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mental Breakdown
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-06
Updated: 2013-11-30
Packaged: 2017-10-29 01:21:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 29,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/314289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/holls/pseuds/holls
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thor was determined to protect his brother, no matter who he had become, or how far he broke down.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The Past...

It wasn't that Thor didn't like his little brother's company, far from it. Usually the two boys were inseparable, even down to their sleeping arrangements, talking and giggling up way past their bedtime. This generally continued into the day, even through studies much to the annoyance of their tutor, with Thor leading the way, eager Loki on his heels. It warmed the hearts of their parents to see them close, and made them hopeful that their bond would only strengthen over time.

The first challenge to their friendship, however, came in the form of an older peasant child named Alv and his little group of boys. Alv was a few years older than Thor, and able to play the rougher games he wasn't allowed to try with his brother. The first few times Thor had gone to play with them, Loki had followed as usual, though he stayed off to the side, looking on nervously as his brother wrestled and fought the other boys with sticks. He didn't like the prospect of seeing Thor get injured.

Though, after the first few weeks of allowing Loki to tag along with the group of older, rougher boys, Alv and the others began to protest.

"Why do you always have to bring him?" Alv asked Thor, shooting a glance over at the smaller boy sitting on a rock, picking at a patch of moss.

"He's my brother," Thor said with a shrug, picking up a new stick for their next mock battle.

"So? I don't bring my sister everywhere," Alv said, leaning on his own 'weapon'. "We could have a lot more fun without him, you know, he's too little to go far, but we could. We could steal apples, or play in the ruins, or go swimming."

Thor swallowed hard, looking over at his brother before turning back to Alv, looking reluctant.

"…he won't be much trouble…" Thor offered softly, starting to feel torn. As much as he liked playing with Loki, and felt a loyalty to him, he did want to be a part of Alv's group of older boys. He felt important being included along with older children, even if he wasn't the leader of the group.

Alv shrugged, dropping his stick and sticking his hands in his pockets, scuffing his foot in the dust to kick up a little cloud.

"We're going, Thor, you can stay with the baby then," he said, turning to give the others a quick nod before they all began to get up, ready to go.

Thor looked over at Loki, who had distracted himself with dissecting a flower, and back towards Alv and the others, feeling torn. Loki, or the older boys. His little brother and best friend, or the fun, rough kids who wanted him to play with them.

"Wait!" Thor called, bouncing on his heels as he ran over to his brother. "Loki, go home to Mother, I will be back later."

Looking up from his flower, Loki frowned, putting it down.

"…you're not coming with me?" he asked, sounding worried.

"No, go home, Loki," Thor said, sounding harsher than he'd meant to, but his chest felt a bit tight suddenly, seized by guilt. "We're playing older games and you can't come."

"But…" Loki began to protest, his wide eyes full of distress at the prospect of being left behind, and of having to go home himself. What if he got lost? What if there was a giant in the few hundred yards between here and there?

"Go back to Mama, baby!" Flein, a heavy set blond boy, yelled over from the group, which made the others burst out laughing.

Thor had to do no more coaxing after that, Loki was gone, tears streaming down his cheek as his short legs took him from the clearing. Part of him wanted to run after his brother, upset at seeing him in such a state, but he could make it up to him later. He'd apologize the second he saw him and offer to play whatever Loki wanted to, and everything would be forgotten. In the meantime, however, he tried to push Loki from his mind as he turned towards his new friends, laughing and running as they made their way towards the old ruins at the edge of the forest.

They ran around the wreckage of the old stone building for a few hours, running around and throwing stones at each other, pretending to be the monsters that took it down. They laughed for hours, despite the scrapes and bruises they inflicted on each other, before tiring of this game too, covered in dust and filth. It was an easy decision to move on from there to a deep pool nearby, a popular destination for crowds of young boys, more for the tall cliff wall they dared each other to jump off of than the actual swimming.

"Are you scared to jump, Thor?" Alv challenged his younger friend as they made their way up the path towards the cliff's edge. He'd jumped once before himself, but once was enough to spare him from further challenges. "If you are afraid, we won't laugh too much."

Giving him a look, Thor bravely marched up to the edge to survey the drop, his stomach sinking when he looked at the water far down below. What was in actuality only a drop of a few stories seemed like a plunge to certain death to the young Prince, his heart aching in his chest as his fear rose. Turning back towards the other boys, he wanted to tell them he wouldn't do it, that his father would thrash him if he found out he was doing something so reckless, but the words froze in his throat.

"What's the matter, Thor? I thought you were going to be a brave warrior," Alv said, crossing his arms, smirking at him. "Don't brave warriors have to do brave things?"

Thor stammered, at a loss for an argument as he looked back towards the precipice, feeling very much like a little boy who wanted to run and hide rather than the strapping son of Odin at the moment. If he didn't do it, though, would they let him play with them any more? Or would they treat him like Loki and banish him home to his mother? Swallowing hard as Alv began to stride over, Thor's brain scrambled to think of what to do while his feet remained rooted to the ground.

"How about I push you, your highness? That may make it easier," Alv laughed, though Thor wasn't sure if he was serious or jesting. As the older boy got closer, he prayed desperately that it was the latter. "I will count to three, you hold your breath."

"STOP IT!"

Thor, Alv, and the other boys froze for a second before turning towards the edge of the woods where Loki stood, his jaw set and small fists clenched at his sides. The few stray leaves in his hair matched the bush he'd been hiding in as he followed his brother in secret, too afraid to walk home on his own, but not so scared that he wouldn't stand up to someone about to harm Thor.

"Didn't we tell you to go home?" Flein asked, though Loki didn't react. His eyes were still on Alv, burning with an anger Thor hadn't seen in his brother before, though the other boys just laughed at the furious child before them.

"Princess Thor, your hero has arrived," Stigr laughed, walking over to ruffle Loki's hair, even more amused when the little boy pulled away indignantly.

"I mean it, don't you push him!" Loki said to Alv as he ignored the other two, concentrating on the boy who meant to hurt his brother.

Thor, who had been momentarily thrilled to see Loki and have the attention turned from him and the cliff, though his relief was quickly turning into embarrassment. He was being saved by his little brother, in front of all his friends, he was never going to live this down.

"Loki-" Thor started weakly.

"Or what? You'll tell on us?" Alv interrupted with a cold laugh, his attention turned from the elder Odinson to the younger. "What can you possibly do to me? I could just toss you off the side. Actually, that sounds like a fun idea, why don't we do that?"

Alv nodded, and Stigr stepped forward, wrapping his arms around Loki's waist, pinning his arms to his sides as he picked him up off the ground. Laughing as the little prince kicked and screamed, he began to walk over to the cliff's edge.

"This isn't funny, let him go!" Thor demanded, more frightened now than he had been when he was in Loki's position. At least he could swim, his brother could barely float. "Alv, I'll jump, I'll do it if you tell him to let Loki go!"

"No, this is better, it'll teach him a lesson about spying on us, won't it?" Alv said, watching Loki thrash in the bigger boy's arms with the same sadistic glee he took from torturing his sister's cat.

"He won't! He won't do it any more, I swear on my father's name, but let him go!" Thor begged, wanting to rush forward and knock Stigr to the ground, but he was too close to the edge now, he'd be risking Loki's life to do so. He couldn't remember being so afraid before, terrified to the point that he was frozen to the spot, regretting the moment he ever began to associate with Alv and the others. He was happy to play with Loki, he was the only person Thor really needed, and now he was in horrible danger.

"I'll let him go," Stigr laughed, a few steps away from the edge as he began to adjust his grip on the frantic boy, turning him around so he could see Loki's face before he fell.

He didn't notice was that Loki had stopped kicking and thrashing as he spun the boy around roughly. What he did notice was the cold, intense look in Loki's green eyes when they met for an instant before a flash of light blinded him, and he was knocked out cold by a hard blow from an invisible force.

The other boys, Thor included, barely had time to realize what had happened to Stigr before the wave of light, accompanied by the strong smell of ozone, swept out like a wave, bowling them over as if they weighed nothing. Thor hit the ground hard, knocking the air out of himself, barely aware of the blood running from his nose as he struggled to breathe again, shaking as he began to force himself off the ground.

Where had that come from? What was it? And where was his brother? What if he'd fallen, what if the light had shoved him off the edge? He had to get to him, he had to-

"...b-brother...?" Thor wheezed, blinking in amazement as he spotted Loki, unharmed and sitting at the edge of the cliff, hugging his knees to his chest, his eyes wide and emotionless. "Loki, get away from there...the light, if it returns..."

His eyes moved to Stigr, lying at Loki's feet unconscious and bleeding from his nose and ears, and a horrible thought occurred to him. It couldn't be right though, it didn't make any sense, his brother was just a little boy barely old enough for lessons, not...

"FREAK!!" Alv shouted, scrambling to his feet, falling over his own awkward limbs as he tried to get away from Loki as fast as he could. "He killed Stigr!! That freak killed Stigr!!"

The other boys ran screaming from the brothers, and their friend who was very much alive though badly injured, while Thor could only stare at Loki in disbelief. That had been magic, it had to have been, and those boys were saying it came from his little brother. The same boy who sat frozen, pale as a ghost, and staring into oblivion as the others ran shrieking from him into the forest of newly snapped and twisted trees. And as much as Thor wanted to go to his brother, shake him out of the state he was in and beg him for answers, out of fear, he couldn't bring himself to go anywhere near him.

"Over here, there he is."

"The trees...look at them!"

"Get Thor and the other boy, take them to the Healing Room," Odin's voice cut over the other two as he strode quickly into the clearing, his cape billowing out behind him, walking past his oldest son as he went to kneel before his youngest. Heimdall had alerted him to what had happened, and though Odin was well aware Loki was born with magic inside of him, he hadn't expected it to manifest so quickly, or so powerfully. He'd rushed to get there as quickly as possible, not sure what would await him once he arrived, though he was relieved to see that no one had been killed, and that Loki was in one piece.

"Father, he-" Thor blurted as one of Odin's men went over to collect him, the other going to Stigr's side.

"Quiet!" Odin snapped, though he kept his voice low, his tone immediately softening as he reached to touch Loki's cheek. "My son, Loki, look at me...everything is going to be fine. Come, I will bring you home..."

Loki's eyes stirred a little, and the boy looked up at his father for a brief moment before slumping forward into his father's arms, unconscious.

Odin wasted no time cradling his son to his chest before he stood, turning to face Thor and the destruction Loki had caused. Surveying the state of his own child and the other left behind, his hand tightened on his staff as his arm held Loki closer.

"Thor, are you able to walk?" Odin's voice was stern, but softer this time.

"Yes, Father..." Thor said shakily. "Father, they were going to throw him off the edge, whatever he did, he was only trying to protect himself, he-"

"I will speak to you later, Thor," Odin cut him off, nodding at the manservant who put a hand on Thor's shoulder. "Have him looked at and cleaned up, he can take his meal in his room tonight."

With that, Odin strode off, leaving his servants in charge of the two wounded boys. He had his own worries at the moment, and he was the only one he trusted to deal with them.

 

Thor didn't see his parents or his brother until after his lonely supper, of which he'd eaten very little, so he'd been given a lot of time in which to feel sorry for himself. He wasn't sure why they were fussing over Loki so much, he was the one that had been injured, Loki had hurt him, but no one had come to look after him, their mother hadn't even come with sweets as she usually did when he got hurt. She was probably with Loki too, giving him all the attention when he should be in trouble. He knew he would be if he hurt people that badly.

"I was told you did not eat much, are you not feeling well? Does your head hurt?" Odin asked as he walked into the room, standing before his son before taking a seat beside him. "The healer told you to eat and rest, did they not?"

Scowling a bit, Thor ignored his father's words, turning to him angrily.

"What did Loki do to us today? What did he do to me, I didn't do anything to him!" he said sharply. "Father, there was a great light, and it was like being hit by a horse, and he did it somehow!"

Odin put his hand up to stop his son, giving young Thor a moment to compose himself before he began.

"Thor...I've known since Loki was very young that there was something different about him, that he did possess a very natural ability for magic, but I didn't think he would be able to wield it, not yet," Odin said slowly, watching the look of shock on Thor's face. "One day, with proper training, he is going to be a skilled magician, he has the potential to be incredibly powerful if he devotes himself to it."

"But why didn't you tell me he's dangerous?" Thor asked him, frowning. "Why wouldn't you tell me what he can do?"

"Thor, why did you let those boys treat your brother so today?" Odin said, leaning closer to his son, his eye fixed on Thor's expression as the young boy opened and closed his mouth searching for an explanation. "I don't always expect you to get along with Loki, but I do expect you to treat him with respect and kindness, and I expect you to not allow others to treat him cruelly either. He wouldn't have done the same in your place, in fact he gave himself away to rescue you, is that right?"

"Father, I tried to make them stop when they were going to throw him over, I told them I would go in his place!" Thor protested.

Raising his hand again, Odin shook his head.

"It should not have come to that point, though, you should have left with your brother when they were cruel to him. He's only young still, he needs his brother's protection, Thor," Odin explained to him. "You wouldn't have wanted to walk so far when you were his age either, you can't blame him for following you. He was frightened and he needed you to stand up for him. He needs your protection, Thor."

Thor looked at his father as if he'd lost his mind.

"He needs my protection?" he repeated. "Father, he took out six older boys and damaged a grove of trees, what can I do to protect him if he can't protect himself? He doesn't need me for that."

"There is your first mistake, my son," Odin said patiently, meeting his eyes to Thor's. "Sometimes the most powerful are the ones that need protection the most, their weaknesses can be as great as their strengths. Loki's ability to strike out and injure today doesn't change the fact that he's a scared little boy who wanted his brother's help. He needs you, he looks up to you, you're his hero. You don't want to let him down, do you?"

Shaking his head, Thor began to finally understand his father's lesson, the guilt from earlier returning as Frigga walked into the room, Loki still asleep in her arms. He'd seen his brother sleep before, they shared a bed every night, but this time it looked so different. He was so pale and small, a reminder of the corpse he could have been had things gone differently. It was a thought that Thor couldn't rid his mind of no matter how hard he tried.

"Loki...I'm sorry..." Thor whispered once they'd both been tucked in, their parents retired to their own bed. Squirming closer to his brother, Thor wrapped an arm over him, frowning at how cold he felt, and suddenly more determined to stay close and warm him up. "I promise, Loki...I'm going to take care of you, you don't have to be scared with me around ever again."

Giving his little brother a tight squeeze, Thor closed his eyes, concentrating on the rhythm of his brother's breathing as he tried to push the thoughts of losing him from his mind.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The present...

They'd done it. The battle was over. They'd won.

Though nagging at the back of their minds, most of them anyway, was the thought that even though Loki had fallen, he was still alive beneath the dark waves of the Pacific Ocean. S.H.I.E.L.D. had wasted no time arriving on scene to begin combing the water for the fallen god's body while medics treated the wounded members of the team.

Save for one, who stood on the beach alone, praying that it was a rescue mission rather than a recovery one.

"Thor…you're injured, you need to see someone," Bruce said as he made his way over to his friend, leaning heavily on a crutch, his left leg bandaged. He'd been watching Thor standing alone for a while, staring out at the boats and helicopters as they scanned the churning water.

Thor didn't reply. His wounds weren't fatal, and he wasn't a mortal; they would heal quickly enough on their own without the efforts of Midgardian medicine. He only cared for his brother at the moment, wanting to see more than the divers surfacing as the search continued.

"He's been in there for hours, Thor, and when he went down…" Bruce began, not entirely sure why Thor was so upset over the demise of Loki. Sure, it was his brother, but he'd try to cut them all down on his path to global domination.

"He is a god, what would kill a mortal man a dozen times over would only wound him," Thor said, his eyes not breaking their focus. "He will be alive."

Bruce wasn't going to point out that his last statement sounded more hopeful than sure. Nor was he going to say that what they'd done to Loki could kill a mortal man more than a dozen times. He would have been surprised if they found the fallen god's body in one piece, much less pieces at all. Though, in his exhaustion and pain-killer induced haze, he felt pity for his comrade and his personal loss, if not the loss of the greatest adversary he'd met in battle.

As he tried to organize his thoughts into something vaguely sympathetic, Bruce watched as Thor dropped his hammer and began to step towards the water.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Leaning on the crutch he tried to hobble after Thor, sliding in the sand clumsily.

"I tire of this; I am not waiting any longer!" Thor yelled, pulling away his chest plate and cape before wading out into the sea, his injuries ignored over his concern for his brother. If the men of S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't find Loki, then he would.

"If they can't find him with spotlights and divers, what are you going to be able to do, Thor?" Bruce shouted after him, not about to follow him into the water with his leg in the shape it was. He'd have called it a suicide mission with how rough the waves were, but he doubted Thor was putting himself into any real danger, physically anyway.

"I can find him!" Thor shouted back before diving under the dark water, kicking as hard as his pained body would allow as he swam against the tide to where his brother’s body had fallen. He didn’t care how much his muscles hurt, how the salt water stung at the open cuts, or that twenty yards out, he was already unable to see a thing, or know which direction he needed to go.

The only thing that mattered was another hundred yards away, and time counted more for him than it did for Thor at the moment.

Back on shore, Bruce had managed to make his way up to the makeshift medical tent where the other members of their team were either being tended to or recovering. He doubted there was anything any of them could do to stop Thor, he was already a good distance out at this point, but putting in a call to Fury was in order. They were already pulling one god out of the ocean, now a second had been thrown into the mix.

“What do you mean he’s in the water? What the hell’s he doing in there?” Fury yelled over the sounds of the helicopter, sounding as irritated as Tony looked. “Why didn’t you stop him?”

“For one, my leg is broken, and secondly, do you think I could stop him like this? By the time I realized what he was doing, he was gone, he didn’t give me enough time to get pissed off,” Bruce snapped, feeling like he could accomplish getting pissed off quickly without an issue at the moment. “He’s after his brother, he says he can find him. I don’t know, maybe he can, I don’t know every single thing he can do.”

“If he could do that, find Loki whenever he wanted to, he would have said before, right? At some point, he would have said,” Steve said, shaking his head.

“Agreed,” Natasha said, wincing slightly as the last shards of broken glass were taken from her arm. “Or he would have dove into that water hours ago instead of just staring at it.”

“Goddamn it…” Fury sighed, wishing the night would just end already. “Alright, we’re sending a boat to get him, he better be easier to find than his damn brother.”

Closing the connection with the crew in the medical tent, he sent a message over the radios to the recovery squad, notifying them of the second person in the water, and that he might not be as willing to leave it as the first.

 

Thor had no idea how long he’d been in the water, surfacing only when he needed to before plunging back into the frigid abyss. His body was weakened by the earlier battle, and unable to go without as oxygen as long as usual, every second underneath the water counted for more. He wasn’t sure how deep he was swimming down, or how much area he was covering, all of the rocks felt the same under his frantic hands. All he could do was fumble blindly in the dark, begging his father for his hands to travel in the right direction, before he had to surrender to the needs of his own body and swim for the surface. Each time his head burst from the water, he wanted to scream in frustration as he drew in the air he needed, barely giving himself time to recuperate before diving down again.

He wasn’t sure how many trips down he’d taken, his body exhausted as he moved through the darkness, numb fingers brushing across the rocks. He was vaguely aware of a light approaching him, though he didn’t know how far it was or if the diver it belonged to even noticed him. He appreciated it, it was a directional point for him, and he knew which direction he was moving in. Though, as the light got closer, he found it both helpful and almost distracting, he wanted to look over at it, but he didn’t have the time. He would need to head to the surface soon, and he had to finish this area before he would let himself.

As his lungs began to ache past the point he could ignore it, Thor finally tilted his head up towards the light, and in the split second between his eyes leaving the ocean floor, and his first kick to propel him upwards, he saw it. A pale hand, palm facing upwards, fingers curled, looking like a piece of a marble statue rather than one of flesh and bone. Thor’s first instinct was to turn back, to push against the upward momentum and turn back for his brother, but the burning in his chest grew impossible to fight against. Loki was in the light now, the diver would see him, and if he didn’t, Thor knew exactly where to look.

When he broke through the water, gasping desperately for air, he wasn’t expecting to see the boat right beside him. The crew was standing ready to receive the body that had just been radioed in by the divers, and the swimmer that had been spotted trying to help.

“We have him, he’s being brought up,” one of the men called to Thor, shining his light at the ladder thrown over the side. “Orders are to bring you aboard, sir. The situations under control.”

It was under their control he meant, a thought that Thor didn’t like in the least. His brother’s body should be with him, not with strangers who only viewed him as an oddity and an enemy. He’d wanted to find him first for more than the sake of finding him, he may have aligned with them, but he didn’t trust S.H.I.E.L.D. with this. He remembered what they’d done around Mjolnir when it fell to Earth, he could only imagine what they had planned for Loki if he lived.

Climbing up the ladder, he stood back as ordered, his jaw clenched as he heard the voices of the men both on the boat and under the water as they discussed his brother as if he were a treasure. They spoke not of getting him to the surface as soon as possible, but of taking photographs, getting his staff and any items around him, and securing him. Nearly ten minutes had passed before the motor on the winch beside him began to spin, the wet rope flinging drops of water against his arm, though he barely noticed them through the anger and fear writhing inside of him.

“Ten feet…clear the deck…” one of the men called, spotlights on the ship’s surface switching on to the area cleared for Loki’s body. The agents on the ship drew their guns, standing ready to fire if there was any sign of a fight left in him. There was no one ready to help, no medics or physicians, and Thor had to wonder if they’d help Loki even if they could.

They wanted Loki dead, it was clear, though Thor would make it even clearer that he wouldn’t let that happen if need be. He would dig down past the exhaustion and pain to find the might to take out every person on this boat if he had to.

Though the strength he had left him at the sight of Loki’s body as he emerged from the water, dropped onto the deck with little care.

His armor had been removed underwater, stripped down to reveal his pale, bruised torso, the deep gashes bloodless without a strong heartbeat to pump it. Loki’s arms had been twisted behind his back, locked metal cuffs bracing him from his wrist to his elbows, a similar set of restraints on his lower legs confining them together as well. Though it wasn’t the wounds upon his brother’s body that chilled Thor so deeply, nor the measures that had been taken to imprison him.

Loki’s eyes were half open, glassy and dull, as if the sea had washed away the brilliant green he knew.

“Loki!” Thor called out, not recognizing his own voice as he moved towards his brother, dropping to his knees as he shoved past security, not caring about the consequences. “Brother, awaken, you are safe now. I am here, I am not going to let any harm come to you, but you have to wake. You have to let me know you are alright.”

He felt a hand close on his shoulder to pull him away, his arm swinging out without hesitation to send the man flying backwards before turning back to his brother. He was vaguely aware of voices over the radio, though the words meant nothing to him as he pushed Loki’s wet hair away from his brow, fingers tracing over a gash across his temple.

“You of all people can survive this, you are stronger than anyone ever gave you credit for, myself included,” Thor said, almost begging, his hands and voice shaking. “It took seven of us to best your one, Loki, you can beat death now. Please, I can’t be the one who sent you to your death, Loki…brother, please…”

As Thor broke down, he pulled his brother close, resting his forehead against his still chest as he wept out his anger and heartbreak. He hated himself in that moment, that he was part of his little brother’s demise, a large part of it based on how hard he’d fought. Though now he had nothing but regret in his heart, not caring any longer for Midgard and it’s people, not when it had cost him Loki.

He was unaware that the boat had docked, his energy focused on Loki, looking for any small sign that he was still with them. Any movement, a pulse, the return of life to his glazed eyes, he was desperate for a trace of hope that his brother would return to him. As Fury boarded the ship, his heavy footsteps slowing as he approached the two gods, his men poised and ready behind him if either were to lash out.

“Thor…stand back…” Fury said, wishing he hadn’t volunteered to be the one to separate them. He’d dealt with one unhinged god today, now he was standing before another, asking him to do what he obviously did not want to do.

“You will not take him from me…” Thor’s growled, pulling Loki closer, wanting to rip the metal cuffs from his arms, though he wouldn’t risk further injury to his brother. “He is my brother, and I will not stand back and let you take him. He is a prince of Asgard and you confine him like a wild animal, I will not have this!”

“He’s dangerous, and I’m sorry, but it is obvious you can’t contain him. If he’s alive and he recovers, what is to stop him from attempting this again, but getting it right this time?” Fury argued, crouching down to look Thor in the eye. “You can’t control him, Thor. He needs to be detained.”

Thor wanted scream and lash out at everyone around him. He could summon Mjolnir from the beach, and before anyone knew it, he and his brother would be gone. To where, though, who would shelter them? And what would he do if Fury were right; did he have it in him to attempt to take down his brother a second time? Could he begin to?

“…I can make arrangements for you to stay with him, that’s the best I can do,” Fury said, his tone gentler, hoping to calm Thor rather than risk making this situation a whole lot worse. “You’re going to have to play by our rules, but you can be there.”

Turning his eyes down from Fury to Loki, Thor’s hand moved to run through Loki’s hair again, his thumb brushing the deep cut on his brow, his heart stopping at the trace of red on his skin. There was more in the wound, slowly welling, a small rivulet trickling from the corner of the cut towards his eye.

“…I accept,” Thor said softly as he wiped the blood away.


	3. Chapter 3

They had kept Thor waiting for hours, locked in a small secured room somewhere deep in the maze of S.H.I.E.L.D. He kept standing to pace the length of the small room, yanking roughly on the door handle when it failed to open for him. They were keeping him contained because they were doing something to his brother that he wouldn’t agree with, there was no other explanation. They told him they were tending to Loki and processing him for confinement, that it was all standard procedure. It had sounded suspicious even then, but Fury had convinced him it was the only way they could keep him there, that it was for everyone’s safety, Loki’s included. 

He wasn’t sure how long ago exactly that had taken place, but in that time, he’s worked himself up into a rage as he pictured the worst possible scenarios. They were killing his brother, they had separated them because they knew he wouldn’t stand for it, so they made up a lie and locked him in here. If that were the case, though, it wouldn’t matter how long they kept him locked up. Someone would pay upon his release. 

When the door finally opened behind him, his hand flew to Mjolnir’s handle, anger burning hot inside of him as he spun around to face whoever had finally decided to free him. 

“Where is he?” Thor demanded hotly, his hand still on his hammer. “Why did you lock me in here for so long? What were you doing?” 

“We had to detain him properly, all things considered, we can’t risk him breaking out. He’s been put in our most secure cellblock,” Fury said gruffly, his exhaustion creeping up on him, and not in the mood to deal with an angry, overprotective thunder god. “You were kept in here so we could work and do what needed to be done. It’s finished now, and you can see him.”

Fury turned to walk back down the hall, Thor close behind him, moving down the cold, winding maze of corridors, past security points and guards, until they reached the cell block. Low lit and lined on both sides with heavy metal doors, a small window in each one only big enough to peer inside the cell. Thor’s eyes remained locked on Fury as the man led him to one of the doors near the end of the room, peering into the window himself before stepping back. 

“He’s unresponsive still, he hasn’t moved since we put him in there, but he is alive,” Fury said with a nod. “We don’t have much experience with gods, we don’t know what the normal healing time is for him. We were hoping you could tell us something about that.”

Thor ignored Fury, walking towards the door and looking into the window, his temper surging again. This wasn’t the right cell, he’d taken him to the wrong one, how stupid could they be to mix up their prisoners? Loki had long raven hair, he wasn’t bald, and there was no metal rectangle on the back of his neck. This pale, still person wasn’t his brother; they’d made a mistake. 

“That is not Loki,” Thor said through gritted teeth, turning to Fury. “Where is my brother?”

“Thor, that is your brother,” Fury said, pointing towards the door. “Do you think we just have decoys on the ready or something?”

Thor looked back through the window, looking for a trace of his brother on the man that lay slumped against the wall inside the cell, though he refused to believe it could be him. 

“Let me see him then, I want to see for my own eyes that he is my brother,” Thor demanded, stepping aside so that Fury may activate the door. 

“If it’s the haircut that’s thrown you, it’s standard procedure, it’s to keep him easier to keep clean,” Fury offered, not moving to open the cell. “The implant on the back of his neck is ours, it monitors the energy levels in his body, and so if he tries to use magic, it prevents him.”

Fury wasn’t going to go into any more detail than that, he didn’t think Thor would appreciate what would happen to Loki if he were to try anything. Unfortunately for him, though, S.H.I.E.L.D. didn’t exist to protect his feelings. Loki had come close to destroying them all and taking over the world, they’d be damned if they were going to treat him with kid gloves at this point. 

“Open the door,” Thor said through gritted teeth, enraged, and barely keeping his temper in check, averting his eyes from Fury lest he lose his last bit of control. They didn’t have to do that to him, he would have cared for Loki without need of an implant, or slicing off his hair. 

“You can see him like this, Thor, it’s too d-“

“Open the door, I will not ask again!” Thor snapped, finally turning to face the man he considered a comrade, the man who was standing between him and his brother. “I will stay in this prison with him, I will watch over him! If you have so much confidence in the technology you have placed upon him, this should not be a risk!”

“You’ll stay here? Sleep on the floor? Stay locked up day and night? Are you…” Fury trailed off before he could ask Thor if he was insane, because clearly he was. But that knowledge wouldn’t do him any good if the thunder god’s temper snapped, as it looked dangerously close to doing. For now, he would comply with his request, and once Thor had enough, he would let him out and normal visitation could begin. 

“Fine…fine…” Fury said, walking up to the panel beside the door, leaning in close so it could take a scan of his retina. Security on Loki’s cell was tight; few people had the clearance to get inside, he would have to notify the others immediately to Thor’s presence, though he doubted he would want to stay long. 

Thor didn’t speak as the door slid open, heading straight for his brother’s side. Along with the implant, they’d left the arm cuffs on him, securing him by a length of chain to the wall behind him. They’d stripped away his armor, leaving him in a dark blue gown much like the one Thor had woken up in when he’d been taken to the hospital, and the restraints they used had not been so aggressive. 

“…he is a Prince of Asgard…” Thor managed after a moment, looking down at his unconscious brother, shaken by how stripped and weak Loki looked, a twisted ghost of his former self. 

“It doesn’t matter here,” Fury said, his voice softer than it had been out in the hall. “Despite what he’s done, he’s not going to be mistreated here, Thor, you don’t have to stay here with him. You can see him whenever you want, he’s safe here, he can’t hurt himself or anyone else.”

Thor only shook his head, kneeling down, reaching to trace his fingers over the healing wound on Loki’s temple. His body was repairing as it should, he would take that as a good sign, and hope that more were yet to come. He longed to see his brother as he remembered him, not like this, and he would make sure that if Loki couldn’t regain his freedom, he would at least regain his dignity.

“You may go,” Thor said without turning to look at Fury, his eyes still on his brother looking for any sign that he may awaken. “…thank you, but my place is here at Loki’s side. I swore to him that I would always care for him, I see no reason for that to have changed.”

The tone in his voice suggested that he wasn’t interested in Fury’s opinion; the matter was not up for discussion.

“I’ll let the others know you’re here then, make arrangements for you,” Fury said, though he didn’t think that Thor was even listening to him any more. He wasn’t going to let him languish in here without bedding and food though, not after what he’d done for them today, obviously at great personal difficulty for himself. 

Stepping out of the cell, Fury let the door close behind him as he went to make sure things were in place before he retired himself, pushed far past the point of exhaustion.

“…Loki,” Thor said softly, his voice sounding loud in the small, closed room as he reached under his brother’s chin to bring it up, wanting a better look at his face. “Loki, I am sorry, I did not know they would do this to you, I would not have allowed it. They locked me away so I could not be there with you…”

He was furious with S.H.I.E.L.D., it was so obvious now why they had wanted him barred from seeing Loki while they did this to him, he should have seen it. He had put too much trust into them, he was too gullible, and he had to remember that though he had fought on the side of these mortals, he was not one of them as he’d wanted to believe, not if they would deceive him. It was a realization that hurt deeply.

Looking back at Loki’s face, he tried to will him to wake, wanting to see if his eyes had regained any of their life, afraid deep down that it was permanent. So much about his brother had already changed, but he desperately hoped he could somehow turn some of it around. He knew that it may be futile, but there was hope there, at least for him. He couldn’t perform miracles though, if Loki’s body lived and his mind was gone, then there was nothing more he could do than stay by his side and watch over him. 

“My brother…” Thor said softly, letting go of his chin as he moved to sit at his side, wrapping a heavy arm around Loki’s shoulders to pull him closer. “Rest now, I will be here when you wake, and every day after that.”

Leaning his own head back, Thor wondered if sleep would come for him as well. His body was exhausted, though a nagging sense of guilt kept him from being able to give in to it. It took hours for sleep to finally win over his troubled mind, his head rolling to the side, cheek rested against his brother’s bare scalp, his hand locked on Loki’s shoulder to keep him close.


	4. Chapter 4

Over the next few days, Loki’s physical condition improved gradually, his cuts and abrasions healing, though he didn’t regain consciousness. Thor refused to budge from his side, his attention focused on any small sign that Loki was beginning to stir. When he was given bedding, he carefully arranged it around his brother, more concerned with Loki’s comfort than his own. He chose to eat, though he did little of that, in the cell along with him, rather than leaving for the breaks that Fury and the others tried to coax him into. He had few words for them, either telling them that he was staying where he was, or simply for them to leave. 

When Thor woke on the fourth day of their shared confinement, he tightened his arm around his brother and yawned. His stomach rumbled, but he could wait for food, he would take this time for his exercises, or as much as he could do within the confines of the cell. He wanted to talk to Fury about moving Loki to something bigger; they would both need more space once he was awake as well. 

"Good morning, Loki," Thor said as he moved to let go of his brother to get to his feet. In the last day, he'd made a habit of speaking to Loki as he would have were he awake. He didn't know if Loki knew he was there, or if he could hear or understand him, but it was as much for Thor's own sanity as Loki's benefit. 

"Once you awaken, we will need to find a way for you to move in here, you do not want to waste away," Thor said as he finished on his feet, looking over at his brother as he got down on the floor to continue. Though Loki's head had slumped forward, his face in shadow, Thor froze as he caught a glimpse of a thin gap between his eyelashes. 

Scrambling over, his workout forgotten, Thor lifted Loki's chin, excitement turning to sadness as he looked into his vacant eyes. The colour no longer looked bleached from them, though the life was. Waving his fingers inches from Loki's gaze did nothing, he was as unresponsive as he had been for days. Only now, in Thor's heart, there was less hope for the days ahead. 

No longer hungry, or talkative, Thor moved back to his place at Loki's side. 

 

"I think you would like this, brother, it is very sweet..." Thor said, taking a sip of the drink Stark had brought him, looking into the paper bag of food. Stark had called it junk food; Thor assumed that referred to the way it was packaged. "I am not sure about some of these other things, but you would like this."

Since Loki's eyes had opened, he had yet to respond in any way, though Thor had decided it didn't necessarily mean that all hope was lost. Loki had come this far, he could make it farther, and he was stronger than most people gave him credit for. His physical wounds had all healed; his body could be working on the ones below the surface now. 

"Do you remember when we were children and you had that terrible fever? You were in bed for ages it seemed, and I was terrified you would never recover. So when you began to get better, you would convince me to sneak down to the kitchens to steal you cake because Mother wouldn't let you have it. You would tell me that it was the only thing that would make you well again, and I believed you..."

Thor trailed off, swallowing past the lump growing in his throat. 

"Tell me what you want me to get you, tell me what will make you better, Loki," Thor whispered, looking down at his brother. "I did this to you, I was a part of why you’re here now, and I am sorry. This was never my intent, we had to stop you, but to leave you like this was not what I wanted, brother. I love you, I wish you no harm, I only wanted to do what was right. I do not want to see you hurt yourself, or anyone else, I want to see you happy…” 

He wanted to continue, but his words were failing him. He wasn’t even entirely sure there was a way he could possibly put everything he was feeling into speech, everything felt so inadequate. All he could do was apologize, and that was starting to sound weaker every time he did it. He wished he had Loki’s gift with words, he would know what to say in a situation like this, he could take the tangled knot in his head and weave it into the most beautiful sentiment. 

But silver-tongued Loki was silent now, and it was his fault. 

 

Since the night Loki had fallen from the Bifrost, Thor’s dreams had been plagued by the image of Loki disappearing into the abyss, the horror of losing his brother over and over. Even after finding him alive, the dreams hadn’t stopped, perhaps because the Loki that Thor had found since didn’t feel like his brother any more. That Loki had perished in the fall, or perhaps he had long before that and Thor had been too blind to realize it. 

Jolted from his sleep by his own scream within it, Thor ran a shaking hand over his face, his other reaching over to touch his brother to make sure he was still alive and with him. As he expected, he grabbed Loki’s bare knee, ghostly white in the dim light that flooded in from the slit in the door. Though, he was entirely unprepared for that knee to pull itself from his grasp.

“Loki!!” Thor sat upright in an instant, on his hands and knees, moving over to his brother to look into the eyes that only earlier had been dead and glassy, now filled with rage and confusion. “Loki, listen to me, do not try to use your magic. They’ve put something on you; I do not want to see you hurt yourself. Are you in pain? Are you alright?”

Loki didn’t answer his brother’s frantic questions, the anger in his eyes not dissipating as they focused solely on Thor. 

“Brother, I am sorry…I am truly sorry, I did not want to see you like this, I wanted to stop you, but I did not want to do this to you,” Thor said softly, desperate for Loki to believe him, though he knew the chances of that were rather low, if not non-existent, at this point. “I am going to stay with you, for as long as you are here. Forever, if that is the case, I am going to look after you.”

Though his brother didn’t appear to be swayed, Thor refused to back down on his position. This was his penance for the wrongs he’d committed against his younger brother, it was the least he could do in his mind, a small relief from his crushing guilt. 

“You do not have to speak to me if you do not wish to, though you would not would you? It has never been an easy task to get you to do that which you do not wish to,” Thor rambled, feeling awkward, but preferring it to the angry silence. “When the morning comes, I will have them bring food for you, I can help you with it. You need not feel embarrassed needing my help; I want to give it to you. I would prefer for your hands to be free, but they would not listen when I asked.”

Picking up the blanket from where it had slid behind Loki’s back, Thor carefully draped it around his shoulders, ignoring Loki’s attempts to shrug it off. 

“Stop being contrary, brother,” Thor scolded lightly, sliding the pillow behind Loki’s head and gently pushing him back against it, sighing as Loki leaned forward again. “You help no one, least of all yourself, by being so stubborn. I will do this all night if you want to.”

Loki stayed against the pillow when Thor leaned him into it that time, though his expression hadn’t changed. He still pulled away when Thor tried to touch his head, though, making quite clear his feelings on that. With a sigh, Thor moved back to his own makeshift bed, not wanting to push Loki if he had no interest in dealing with Thor at the moment. They had a long confinement together for him to continue to apologize to his brother, he hoped at some point Loki would take some of those words as truth.

“This imprisonment, it would go easier if you would at least speak to me…tell me what you want to eat, or a book, perhaps I can talk to Fury and get it for you,” Thor offered, wishing Loki would say something, even if only to curse him, or spew hatred at him. “You should try to rest, brother, speak to wake me if you need anything, or I will just see you in the morning.”

This silence, and the anger behind it, was something he’d never seen from Loki before, and it disturbed him. A good deal of Loki’s strengths lay with his gift of speech, he should be tearing Thor to shreds with his sharp tongue, not letting it remain idle while his eyes spoke for him. He never thought he would long for the days Loki would scoff and call him an oaf. 

With difficulty, Thor managed to drift back into a fitful sleep, back to the moment where he last recognized those green eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

"Why are you here?"

They were the first words Thor heard after over a week of silent hatred from his brother. In that time, Loki had also refused to eat, and Thor had yet to catch him sleeping, even waking in the middle of the night to see Loki glaring at him. He'd still continued to speak to his brother in that time, hoping something he could say would break this shell Loki had surrounded himself with, though Thor had to admit he did it to annoy him as well. This felt like a waste of time, his best efforts did nothing, Loki was determined to despise him no matter what he said, and he had to wonder if he was making things worse by staying. Nevertheless, he'd made a promise to Loki, and himself, and this was where he would remain, whether his brother wanted him to or not. 

So when Loki finally spoke, Thor wasn't sure if he was relieved, or worried that things were only going to get worse from here. 

"I am here because my brother needs me," Thor answered, pretending to be interested in Mjolnir's strap as he avoided Loki's gaze. "Whether he wants to admit it or not."

"What could I possibly need you for?" Loki spat back, leaning forward as he tested the restraints that kept his arms bound behind his back, gritting his teeth as he tried to pull himself free. 

"You are wasting your energy," Thor sighed, finally looking over at the thin, pale man. "They did not put you in bonds fit for a mortal, brother, you will not be able to tear yourself from those."

"Shut up," Loki growled, his cheeks reddening as he exerted himself further, finally gasping for air as he gave up, slumping back against the wall. 

"I told you. Stop being so stubborn, you'll hurt yourself," Thor said, reaching out to him to fix the pillow behind him. He'd expected Loki to pull away or curse at him, but his brother allowed him to help, though he did so without thanks, Thor was sure it was likely because he had strained himself in his efforts. "It is better to have me here than be trapped on your own."

Loki looked at him, raising an eyebrow and scoffing.

"Of course you would have that high an opinion of yourself. How could I possibly be miserable, the sainted Thor is here to help me. It does not matter if I have been degraded and humiliated, stripped of my powers and freedom, I have THOR!" Loki's voice raised to a shout as he stared his brother down. "I would rather be alone for a millennia in a room only large enough for me to stand, without sustenance, than spend one more day in this cell with you!"

Thor stared back at him, teeth clenched as he tried to hide his hurt, not wanting Loki to think he could affect him so easily. Loki wasn't a fool, though, and Thor knew he wasn't that good of an actor. 

"I am not leaving," Thor stated plainly, his tone low and serious. "I will be here as long as you are."

"I suppose I should just get used to it then, you have spoken, what I want again counts for nothing," Loki snorted, turning away from his brother. If he couldn't escape him, he could at least ignore him. "Stay, make yourself comfortable, impose yourself on my prison…but do not expect me to be grateful. You are why am here, I will not forget that, brother." 

Thor didn't try to apologize again, he'd done enough of that in the last few days, and he doubted Loki wanted to hear it. He remained silent, watching his brother's back rising and falling slowly with each breath, his eyes moving to the metal chip in the back of his neck below the new growth of ink coloured hair. Part of him wanted to reach out for the blanket and wrap it around his brother's shoulders, covering the horribly foreign object imbedded in his skin, though he didn't move. The silence was peaceful, he didn't want to break that.

That had gone much better than he'd anticipated, though that didn't mean he was happy with the results either. He needed to do better, somehow.

 

"You need to eat, brother, you are letting your body suffer," Thor said, sat in front of his brother, holding a bowl of what he was sure was likely stew. The food they provided for Loki was lesser in quality than the food they brought for Thor, though Loki had no interest in either. 

"I will eat when my hands are freed, I am not an infant," Loki replied crossly, his legs folded beneath him, not even bothering to open his eyes. The most he would allow Thor to give him was water, and only because one of the mortals had provided a long, thin tube for him to drink through. He refused to let Thor's hands get closer to him than need be. 

"They are not going to free your hands, we've discussed this," Thor reminded him, wondering if he could pin Loki down and force feed him. He needed another set of hands for that, though, and so far, no one would volunteer for the job. 

One of Loki's eyes opened, glaring.

"No, you prattled on about some ridiculous order the mortals have given against me, I recall not replying to you. That is not a discussion," Loki said, closing his eye once again. "A discussion would imply that both parties were involved in the exchange of ideas."

Over the last few days, Loki had taken to being extremely literal about everything, when he did choose to speak to his brother. Thor was sure he should be more annoyed about being spoken to in such a manner, but it was better than nothing. 

"It is not my fault you refused to speak, stop talking to me as if I were a fool," Thor said, bringing the spoon up to his nose, sniffing. He could see why Loki was in no hurry to eat this. 

"You make it too easy, brother," Loki replied. "Are you actually eating that swill? I wouldn't feed it to a dog."

"No, I'm smelling it, I thought your eyes were closed," Thor dropped the utensil back into the bowl, setting it aside with a mental note to tell Fury that this wasn't acceptable, even if Loki was a prisoner. He was right, Thor wouldn't have fed this to any manner of beast. "The bread does not look as bad."

"I told you, I'm not eating, I would rather waste away," Loki said with an annoyed sigh. "And you thought wrong. Again."

"If your plan is to lose enough weight to slip from your restraints, it is a stupid one. I do not think that they will be so easily fooled to just watch you lose that much mass from your body without thinking to tighten them," Thor said, reaching for his own mall, picking up a piece of potato and popping it in his own mouth. "Besides, even if you did escape from them, you would not make it out of this room."

Both of Loki's eyes opened this time.

"Do you honestly think they can hold me?" he asked, anger in his voice. "Do you think so lowly of me, brother, that this group of insignificant fools can keep me here forever?"

"Forgive me, Loki, but I see no way you can escape this in your current state, I mean no offence to you," Thor said to him, shaking his head slowly. "I think there must come a time when you need to admit you are bested if you want any chance of being released again. If you show you are reformed, perhaps they will grant you lenience." 

Thor was certain the look Loki gave him would have killed him instantly had he still possessed his magic. 

"I am not a beast for them to break and train," he hissed, shaking in rage. "I will not accept my release as a job well done by their terms, I will take it by mine, or I will let myself die here." 

"And they say I am stubborn," Thor snorted, wishing he could grab his brother and shake this nonsense from his head. 

"You are, the difference is that at least I pick my battles for good reason, not sheer brutish stupidity!" Loki scoffed. "An example of which being your insistence on being here. When will you realize I do not require, nor want, you here and just leave? What is taking so long? Or have I been too hospitable?"

Wanting to again argue that he was there for Loki's sake, Thor decided against it, pretending to be too involved with his meal to argue reason with his irate brother. There was little he could say to Loki on a good day, much less one like this, to convince him or why Thor was there for him. He didn't believe the Thor when he professed that he loved him, or wanted to be there for him to help him, rather Loki tended to assume that Thor derived some pleasure from watching him in this state. Thor had been horrified at the notion, and had tried his best to deny it, though Loki's mind was firmly made up. 

"Of course now you are quiet, when I actually want to hear you speak. It is like you wake every morning and think of new ways to infuriate me," Loki seethed. "If you insist on being quiet, be out of my sight as well!"

"No," Thor replied simply, not looking up from his lunch. 

"It was NOT a request!" Loki shouted, uncrossing his legs to kick at his brother, though Thor has been quick enough to move out of reach, which only served to infuriate him further. "You are going to listen to me for once, I do not WANT YOU HERE!"

The chip in his neck was forgotten momentarily as Loki set to unleash a blow of energy against his brother. As he was about to send it, a sharp, agonizing pain shot through his spine from the base of his neck, down the nerve endings of his body like hot lightning, constricting his muscles in a painful spasm. Though it lasted only a second, it felt like hours as Loki constricted as much as he could in his bonds, letting out a wretched, choked scream.

"Loki!!" Thor was up in a flash and at his brother's side, unaware of what Loki had attempted, though he was afraid to touch him lest he hurt him further. 

"Thor!! Brother…!!" Loki gasped between desperate breaths, his body shaking as residual energy from the blast coursed through him, the pain unrelenting. "Thor, help me…help me…"

Thor would have thought it to be a trick had Loki not broken down into heaving sobs, falling against his elder brother's shoulder as he wept. He had never seen Loki react like this to anything, so it only took him a moment to figure out what had happened. 

"Make it stop…I am sorry, Thor, make it stop…" he begged as his body jumped, blood running from his mouth from the damage his teeth had caused his tongue. 

"Loki…" Thor began, though there were no words. He had seen the full extent to what S.H.I.E.L.D. had reduced his brother to, and it horrified him. 

Putting his arm around his brother's shoulder, he reached for one of his spare clean shirts to mop up the blood from his face gently, getting his water to help rinse his mouth clear of it. As he began to work to best heal the damage done, he caught a glimpse of Loki's eyes as his younger brother stared up at him, realizing that he recognized those green eyes now. They belonged to the terrified little boy who used to crawl into his bed when he had a nightmare, or when their Father was away and he feared for his safety. He'd wanted so desperately to see a trace of his brother that he knew within this twisted man, though he didn't realize how much it would break his heart when he finally did. 

"Loki, do not be afraid, I am here…"


	6. Chapter 6

The next few days in the cell were quieter than the first. Loki had fallen back into silence, staring down at the floor in front of him with slumped shoulders, his expression one of a man broken. He still refused food, but now he declined water as well, not acknowledging anyone or anything. He'd finally been freed from his restraints, though he didn't try to escape nonetheless, and he certainly didn't try to use magic again, his only attempt leaving him as a weeping, pain-wracked mess in his older brother's arms for nearly an hour afterward. Instead, he sat still, staring, and saying nothing as the seconds ticked by. Thor wasn't sure if he'd given up or if he was just being stubborn, but part of him feared it was the first, and he had no idea what to say to his brother if that was the case. He was as quiet at Loki, though he turned his head to glare at anyone that came to their door. 

"Why are you here?" 

They were the same words Loki had broken his silence with before, though these didn't have the venom they did the first time. They sounded tired, defeated. 

"I told you why I am here, because you need me," Thor answered, leaning on the wall opposite his brother, watching him, though Loki refused raise his head to look him in the eyes. "You should realize that now to be true."

Loki chuckled humourlessly, letting his head roll back so he could stare at the ceiling rather than the floor, bypassing Thor between the two points. 

"Tell me the truth, brother, are you here to gloat? To watch me whither and die? Were you part of the ones who shorn my hair and attached this thing to me?" Loki asked, bitterness creeping back into his voice. "Why would you endure this room if not for something to gain from it?"

"I speak the truth, I am here to help, and I am not to blame for what they have done to you. Despite your crimes, I do not agree with this. Even Father…" Thor trailed off, suddenly not sure of himself. Odin may have just sentenced Loki to death for his crimes instead of letting him live, as much as Loki considered this to be living. 

"Speak up, finish what you were going to say, brother, 'even Father' what? What would the glorious All-Father have done?" Loki asked dryly, knowing the answer in his heart, he just wanted to hear Thor say it aloud. 

Thor didn't, however, he didn't want to play along with Loki's angry game. 

"Why did you do it, Loki? Why did you attack Midgard?" Thor asked, changing the topic from Odin to something that had been on his mind since this all began. He didn't understand this new man who looked and sounded like his brother, he didn't know why he did the things he did, and he wanted to know what had happened to the person he'd grown up with. That Loki liked to trick people, yes, he was different from the others, but he was not malicious. He was not a murderer.

Loki didn't respond, not that Thor had expected him to. He slipped back into silence, and Thor was left alone with with his questions. Perhaps he shouldn't have changed the subject after all, the quiet was starting to weigh on his sanity. 

"Father would have likely had you executed…" Thor finally whispered nearly an hour later. "Unless Mother stepped in, but even then...."  
Another humourless laugh, Loki's eyes didn't move from the ceiling, though Thor swore he could see sadness in them. Or at least he hoped he did. 

"Now I suppose I owe you your answers about Midgard? I wanted my throne, it is that simple. Asgard will be yours, Jotunheim, well, it is safe to say I burned my bridges there," Loki shrugged a little as if it wasn't a big deal. Simply a misunderstanding with a massive body count. "I wanted Midgard to be mine, because you love it so. I wanted to take it from you." 

Thor wanted to ask what he had done to deserve to have Midgard taken from his protection, but he was certain he knew what he would hear. There was no point in listening to Loki's perception of their upbringing, though Thor pitied his brother if he remembered their lives playing out so. Maybe Loki was right, maybe Odin had favoured him and he hadn't noticed, but there was nothing he could do about that now. Maybe he would change the past if he could, if he knew where he'd hurt Loki most, but the most he could do was try to repair things between them now. 

"Loki…I am sorry, but your actions here, you understand why the humans are punishing you, do you not?" Thor asked him, hoping his brother wasn't so far gone that he didn't realize the gravity of what he'd done. "You laid waste to a city, you took lives, there are consequences for those actions, and you are better off to face Midgardian justice than to die. I do not want you to die, brother, for as much as you have hurt me, and though you deny it, we are family."

"…shut up, Thor…" Loki said weakly, blinking, though Thor caught a glimpse of a tear in one of Loki's eyes. "This is not life."

"You still breathe, you think, you speak," Thor said, shifting to extend his leg towards Loki's crossed ones. "There is hope for you to be freed from here one day."

"If there is hope, I do not see it," Loki whispered back, shaking his head as he let it fall again, concealing the emotion on his face. 

"You may not see it, but I do, trust in me as you once did. I will not let you die here," Thor said with conviction in his voice. He would speak to Fury himself, he would bring down the heavens if he needed to, but he wasn't going to let Loki rot in here. "I will bring you home myself, I will protect you from Father."

"Don't you understand, Thor? Do you still not get it? I have no home," Loki finally faced his brother, not caring that tears streamed down his cheeks from reddened eyes. "I am without a home, and now thanks to these humans, I am without my magic. I am without myself. What am I to do with freedom if I have nothing? Am I to be your pet on Asgard? How is that any better than a prisoner here?" 

His hands flew to the back of his neck, his nails digging into the skin on either side of the chip as he dug into his flesh as hard as he could, prepared to tear the entire back of his neck off if it meant getting this offensive metal rectangle off of him. He'd managed to tear open the skin around the implant easily enough, though when his nails came to press against it, he was hit with a jolt like when he'd tried to use his magic days before. Screaming in agony, he dropped to his hands and knees before Thor, his bloody hand reaching out for his brother amidst the blinding pain. He was desperate for anything to end the pain, any comfort at all, and if that came in the guise of his elder brother…

"Brother, please…" he could barely speak as he felt Thor's arms around him once more, holding him up. He fought through the pain to move enough to burrow into the strong embrace, hiding his face against Thor's chest as he wept brokenly. This was worse than any death Odin could have bestowed onto him, he would gladly return to Asgard than face any more time on Midgard. 

Thor could only hold his brother and watch helplessly as he fell apart in his arms. His anger rose as he stroked Loki's back, avoiding the blood that trickled down from the wound he'd left on his neck. He remembered as a child hating to see Loki injured, always wanting to protect his little brother from the dangers of the world around them. Now here they were as adults, and he felt that same revulsion from all those years ago. This wasn't some wound from a sparring match that Loki would get over, this was torture, at the hands of men that claimed to be Thor's allies. 

"Loki, trust in me," Thor said softly, kissing the top of his brother's bald head affectionately, resting his cheek against it as their mother had done when they were both young. "This is not your life, I will not allow it." 

"I can't…" Loki started weakly, though there were no words to finish his sentence. He could only think of what he wanted to say next. "Hold me…"

"I am not going anywhere," Thor answered him, pulling him into his lap as if he were a child, wrapping his arms around him. If it was what would comfort Loki now, then he would do it. The weight in his arms was a comfort to him as well, it felt so right to have Loki leaning against him like that. In all the time since they had begun to quarrel, he'd forgotten what embracing his little brother felt like, something he'd taken for granted for many years. Now that he had it back, Thor almost felt guilty for the little happiness it gave him amidst all of Loki's pain. 

"It is…it is finally…" Loki gasped after a few minutes had passed, his body relaxing in Thor's arms as his breathing resumed to normal. He still ached from what the burst of energy had done to his body, but he could think now, his body was under his own control again. 

"Do you want me to help you sit up?" Thor asked, hoping Loki didn't take him up on his offer. He felt selfish for wanting to keep Loki with him for his own reasons, but he couldn't help it. Obviously he would do what Loki wanted, he was the one who was suffering, but it didn't stop him from having an opinion in the matter.

Loki just shook his head, bringing his hand up to place on Thor's chest just in front of his face as he made himself comfortable. 

"Please don't let go," was his simple request as he stared at the dried blood on his fingers inches from his face. 

"I would not dream of it," Thor said to him, reaching for the blanket to cover them both, draping it over Loki before wrapping a protective arm around him. He didn't care if Loki needed to stay like this all night, Thor was happy to oblige. 

Loki didn't answer, he only nodded as he clenched his hand into a fist, hiding his bloody fingers as he stared forward blankly. He felt safe, protected, and warm, and for a moment, he was a child back on Asgard, hiding in Thor's bed from a nightmare, seeking his big brother's embrace, feeling the fear of monsters melt away from him. Now, however, the nightmare was very real, and he felt himself trusting in Thor to scare it away as he had the others. 

Thor, his big, strong, oaf of a brother who always believed the good in situations, who trusted freely and made friends easily, who had more brawn than brains. He was Loki's only hope in this situation, his only chance to get out of here alive, though that prospect was still a dim one in his eyes. Thor was all he had left.

It took a moment, but when Loki realized how true that sentence was, he couldn't help but smile just a little. Having Thor was better than nothing.


	7. Chapter 7

After his second ordeal with the implant on his neck, Loki slept soundly in Thor's arms, exhausted by the toll the pain had taken on him. Once again, he wasn't going to eat any of his meal when it came, which Thor refused as well, his appetite soured by his brother's state. He did, however, pass on a message to Director Fury that he wished to have a word with him as soon as possible, deciding to try diplomacy before he smashed his way out of this place with Mjolnir in one hand and Loki in the other. He did not wish to start a war with S.H.I.E.L.D. and the humans, however, as much as their treatment of his brother angered him. Loki had started this, after all, S.H.I.E.L.D. was just responding to his power in the way they saw fit. Perhaps they did not realize what the consequences of their device were, perhaps it was turned up too high and wasn't meant to hurt nearly so much. Thor hoped that was the case, anyway, he didn't want to think of his allies as being so cruel. Either way, he would get things sorted out, he would clean up this mess somehow. 

Not only could he not eat, he couldn't sleep as well, his mind wouldn't let him rest. Closing his eyes, he could only see Loki writhing in pain, crying out to him, and he'd be forced to open them to make sure his brother was still sleeping peacefully against him. If he couldn't sleep, at least he could watch over Loki through the night, and think about what he was going to say when he came before Fury. 

"Thor…" a small voice broke Thor from his train of thought. "I need to eat something."

"It is too late for that," Thor replied, keeping a hand on Loki's back, wishing now he hadn't turned away their suppers when they came. He'd assumed Loki wouldn't want to eat, and he hadn't wanted to for once in his life. "You can eat in the morning when they come, you need to start to regain your strength." 

"For what?" Loki asked, sounding exhausted and feeling truly weakened. He couldn't remember the last time he had something other than water, and the pulses from the thing on his neck had drained him terribly. 

"So you do not fade away on me. I am going to speak to Director Fury tomorrow, I do not like what they are doing to you," Thor replied, his hand moving in slow circles on Loki's back as it had when the man slept, not realizing he was still doing it. "I hope I will not be long, I do not want to leave you alone." 

"Why, do you think I'll do something stupid? What can I do?" Loki said softly, flinching a little at Thor's hand on him though he didn't pull away from his brother's touch. "If you mean trying to remove that thing again, I am not brainless. I will be here when you return, waiting for you." 

Thor sighed with relief. He didn't want to imagine what Loki would do to himself without him there to stop him. He worried Loki would try to pull the device away again, and what he would be driven to in that pain if Thor wasn't there to hold and comfort him. 

"…you won't be long, will you? What if they do not let you return?" Loki had worry in his voice, though he tried not to let it come through. It was hard for him to admit to himself that he needed Thor, it was something else entirely to let Thor know. Though, Loki suspected, he already did. "What if you taste freedom and decide you don't want to return?"

"I will not let them keep us apart, it is not an option," Thor said, his hand stopping for a moment as he pulled Loki closer. "I would not leave you alone in here, stop worrying. I am here to protect you."

Loki couldn't trust Thor's reassurance, he didn't think these humans would let him have his brother back, he was confused to why they allowed Thor to stay in the first place. 

"Why are you helping me?" Loki had to ask, though he didn't mean to sound ungrateful. He just wanted to know what drove Thor to care for him so selflessly despite the turn their relationship had taken. If it had been Thor captured and locked away in a cell, Loki would readily admit he wouldn't have sacrificed his own freedom to watch over him. He would honestly have likely only shown up to mock him, if that. 

"Because I swore to you that you would never have to be scared when I am around when we were children and I still feel the same sense of dedication towards you," Thor said, realizing as he spoke that it wasn't the entire truth, there was more to be said. Starting to rub Loki's back once again in slow circles, Thor cleared his throat to continue to speak. "Because you are still my brother, and I love you very much. Despite your wicked ways, despite what you have done, you are always the little boy that followed me everywhere. I will always protect you." 

Not knowing what to say to that, Loki didn't realize he was crying until the tear dripped off his chin onto the front of his blue gown. 

"But _why_?" Loki begged, desperate for an answer that made sense to him. Thor loved him, but why? Why did he still call him brother when he knew it not to be true? He had just tried to kill Thor and his friends, and here he was a week later, with Thor holding him and telling that he would always protect him. 

"I do not know what you want me to say, Loki, I told you why," Thor insisted, confused by Loki's question. Had he not answered it already? 

Loki just shook his head. Thor didn't seem to get it, and he wasn't sure if he could make him.

"After everything that has happened, how can you feel the way you do?" Loki finally said, simplifying all the thoughts buzzing through his head. It was best to start small, perhaps then Thor would understand better what he was asking him. "Why don't you just hate me like everyone else?"

"I do not think I am alone, I am sure Mother does not hate you," Thor said, frowning as he realized he couldn't speak for his father. He wanted to think that it wasn't possible for Odin to hate the boy he'd raised since infancy, the boy he'd always been proud to refer to as his son, but there was a coldness to the All-Father that Thor couldn't ignore. "I do not hate you because I always had hope for you, that I would find the brother I once knew. Whether we come from different bloodlines matters not, we are kin and I am not like Father, I can not forget our past together, I will not. As long as you live, I will have hope for you." 

Loki closed his eyes, doing nothing to stop the tears that ran from them. He wept soundlessly, face pressed against Thor's chest as his brother's words repeated over and over in his mind. His questions weren't answered, if anything, they burned more now, but he couldn’t bring himself to speak. He wished his brother wasn’t so damn optimistic, he wished he understood Thor’s devotion to him. Loki knew his own newfound attachment to Thor had to be rooted in his own needs, which made sense to him, he was trapped and helpless, Thor could look after him in here until they were released. Something he still knew he never would have done if the situation were reversed. 

“You oaf…” Loki muttered, though there was no malice in his voice, only sadness. “My dear, brainless brother, there is no hope for me.” 

“And what makes you so sure?” Thor asked softly, heeding the insults no mind, looking down as he realized Loki was crying against him. It pained him deeply to see Loki so distraught, so defeated, but to see him openly weeping like a child caused an ache in Thor’s chest, one he’d felt before when he saw his brother fall from the Bifrost. He’d lost Loki that day, and now as he watched him break down, he feared he was losing him in another way entirely. 

“Because I am Loki,” was Loki’s simple reply. “Because I don’t deserve it.”


	8. Chapter 8

“Excuse me?”

“Did you not hear me? Shall I speak louder?” 

Thor stood before Nick Fury, his arms crossed over his chest, jaw set stubbornly as he locked his eyes to Fury’s good one. Their meeting had only just begun, and Thor was already impatient with the other man. He’d stated his issues with Loki’s treatment clearly the moment he stepped into the Director’s office, he didn’t see why Fury needed them repeated, though he would if need be. He wanted his brother freed, both of the implant and that cell, and he wanted to remove him from the premises, as simple as that. 

“Oh I heard you, I just wondered if you could hear yourself,” Fury said, tenting his fingers as he examined Thor for a moment. “He’s been captive for a month and you propose we just free the being who destroyed half a city and ran up a body count, with no consequences or safe guards, and into your sole custody. Did I get all that right?”

“I did not say without consequence, he will remain in my care and I will find a place suitable for the both of us,” Thor said, stopping himself before he said anything about Asgard. He wouldn’t bring Loki there unless he could assure that Odin’s wrath wouldn’t put him in harm’s way. “As for the device you put on him, it is barbaric.”

“The device we put on him is essential to ensuring what he did doesn’t happen again. It doesn’t go off unless he tampers with it, tries to escape, misbehaves, or tries to use magic, if he abstains from that, then he’s just fine. He shouldn’t be doing those things anyway,” Fury said plainly, looking for any sort of give in Thor’s body language and finding nothing. “I can’t let you take him from here and just give you free reign with him, Thor. Not unless I’m assured he’s going into lock up somewhere else.”

“Where else is there? If I were to bring him home, my father would surely execute him for his crimes, not imprison him, but he can not stay here,” Thor insisted, not knowing exactly where he would take Loki if he left, but not wanting him to be where he was truly miserable. Punishment or not, his brother was breaking down in this place, and in Thor’s eyes, that was entirely unacceptable. 

“Frankly, your father and Asgardian law aren’t my problem,” Fury sighed, honestly not that bothered by the thought of Loki being executed. It would be one less problem for him to deal with at the end of the day, not to sound overly cold, but the thought of having to fight Loki again wasn’t one he really wanted to entertain. “We’re not going to execute him in our custody, I can promise you that much, but that’s all the jurisdiction I have.” 

“There must be another way,” Thor shook his head, looking away as he tried to think of something better than this that would appease Fury and keep Loki alive. “This can not be the only solution. I worry for my brother, I do not know how much more of this Loki can endure, he was not meant to be held like this.” 

“If you can think of one, bring it to my attention, because I can’t think of another way. I’ll tell you again though, you don’t have to stay in there with him. You can stay elsewhere, come visit every day, we’re not going to hurt him the moment your back is turned,” Fury promised, still not entirely sure why Thor was staying in a cell that was small for one man, let alone two. Maybe he could see if he could secure them something bigger, but for the time being, it was the only cell he trusted to hold Loki. And now, in his mind, he had the added threat of Thor breaking out. “Loki may not like it here, but we’re not mistreating him. He’s the one refusing food and water.” 

Thor gritted his teeth, getting frustrated. This wasn’t how he imagined their discussion to go. He was responsible for his brother, bottom line, and he felt without a shadow of a doubt that he should be his keeper through his punishment. Loki was of Asgard, and Midgardians had no idea how to deal with them obviously, Thor was convinced now that they had no business trying. 

“I want that thing off his neck, or I want him released, preferably both. I will leave you to make your mind on your choice,” Thor growled finally, his impatience with Fury and S.H.E.I.L.D. reaching an all time high. “You have my word, Fury, Loki is safe in my custody, I do not need your help.”

“Really, because a month ago, when you two were fighting each other, you didn’t look like you had him under control. You needed help back then, what’s changed between then and now if we take that chip off?” Fury asked, not trying to piss the thunder god off, but to make a point. He couldn’t guarantee that Loki was safe with him, even with the chip, he wasn’t a pushover, and he didn’t necessarily need magic to do damage. “What’s going to stop Loki from getting away from you and killing innocent people? What do you have to guarantee we won’t need to step into the ring with him again?” 

Thor paused in the doorway for a moment, wanting to say that he would, but he didn’t think that Fury would believe him, or believe that Loki would allow himself to be controlled so willingly. He hadn’t seen what Thor had the last few days, however, nor had he seen Loki minutes ago when Thor had left to come to this meeting. Loki hadn’t wanted his brother to leave, he’d fretted and begged him not to go, not to leave him alone, it was the first time he’d had to lean against the wall rather than Thor in days. That wasn’t the tyrant who destroyed New York City, that was the little boy Thor remembered so fondly, the one he wanted to save from this place before he broke down any further. 

“Make your choice, Fury,” Thor repeated rather than waste his time trying to answer the question. Nothing he could say would convince him, and he preferred not to get into an argument at the moment. “We will speak again shortly.”

Walking from the office, he began to make his way back to his brother, a nervous feeling creeping into his heart as he wondered what he would find. He’d told the guards to keep an eye on Loki while he was gone, but whether they took his orders seriously was another thing. Thor wasn’t blind to the truth, he knew that he was the only one in this building, in the entire realm, that cared if Loki lived or died, much less for his mental state. But he alone would be enough, he would make sure of that. 

 

Loki wasn’t sure how long Thor had been gone, or when he was coming back, but the longer the minutes passed, the more he became paranoid that he’d seen the last of his big brother. Why would they let Thor come back when they could find another way to torture him other than the thing on the back of his neck? He knew by the looks the guards had given him as Thor was being lead out that he was hardly a popular prisoner, he didn’t expect he would be, but he feared the consequences of this hatred. What if they could make the thing on his neck go off at will? No one had told him what the capabilities of the device were, so he’d only had his imagination to fill in the blanks. When the guards glared and reached for the odd devices on their belts, he winced and brought a hand up to shield his neck, as if that could help. So far, he’d yet to be shocked again, but he lived in fear of unknowingly triggering that massive rush of pain again. 

Running a hand over his short, black hair, Loki sighed into the silence of the cell. There was no Thor to talk to, no Thor to break the dead silence with his breathing, or the sound of his heart as Loki pressed his ear against his chest. He didn’t like it. As much as he’d told Thor he wanted him to leave when their captivity began, now he couldn’t last without his brother for more than a few minutes before he began to worry about him coming back. 

“I’m sorry…” he whispered aloud, unsure why he could so easily say it now that he was alone. He should be able to say it to Thor, he felt it deeply enough, he wanted to say it every time there was silence between them. He was sorry, not just for New York City, but for everything, he was sorry he’d ended up in this place instead of back on Asgard, where at least Frigga would be happy to see him. He was sorry for doubting Thor’s love for him, and most of all, for ending up in this place and keeping his brother imprisoned in this cell along with him. 

So why couldn’t he say it when Thor was here to hear it? Was it that hard to admit he’d been wrong in all his hurt and rage? Did that somehow invalidate it? It was there still, he could feel it deep within his chest, but it’s direction had shifted away from Thor, or it had changed at least. He didn’t want to see his brother’s destruction any more, but at the same time, he couldn’t begin to apologize to him either for what he had done. What the hell was wrong with him?

“Where is my brother?” Loki asked loudly, turning towards the door, hoping someone on the other end could hear him. “How long is he to be gone?” 

“Quiet in there!” the guard barked back, banging on the door. 

Loki winced at the noise, though he didn’t want to back down. He wanted Thor, he didn’t know what was taking so long but he could only see it as something bad. He didn’t think there was any point in going to Fury, they weren’t going to let Loki go, they weren’t going to show him any mercy, they were just going to take Thor from him. 

“Where is my brother?” Loki repeated, getting to his feet now, more urgency in his voice. He didn’t know how much time had passed but it felt like too long. He was starting to panic, his chest aching as he paced towards the door, laying a hand upon it as he tried to look out through the slit in the door for any sign of Thor. He could see nothing however aside from the two guards, one of whom was turned towards him. “Please, can you tell me anything?”

“Back away from the door, prisoner!” the guard, a man who hailed from New York City, already had a short fuse when it came to Loki. He knew Loki was against the door, and though he was doing no more that asking a question, but he was told to perform his job with his best discretion. Right now he was determining this to be an attempted escape. 

“I will back away when y-“ Loki’s sentence was cut off as a blinding pain shot through his spine, traveling along every nerve in his body as his legs gave out, spilling him to the floor. His head cracked against the hard surface, skin splitting and letting blood run forth, though he had no idea he had even injured himself. Beyond the pain, he didn’t know anything, he couldn’t think, he just wanted this to end by any means necessary. Even death would be a welcome reprieve from this. 

Crying out wordlessly, Loki dragged his hand through the growing puddle of blood as he reached out blindly to a brother that wasn’t there.


	9. Chapter 9

“I don’t know, sir, we were just watching him and it went off,” the guard said, raising his hands in mock surrender as Thor glared at him and his partner. The thunder god looked like he was about to beat the two of them within inches of their lives, but his arms were preoccupied with the body of his unconscious brother who he’d found moments before, lying in a puddle of his own blood. 

“Do not just stand there, this needs to be cleaned!” Thor snapped, angry at them for leaving Loki on the floor like that when something had obviously happened to him, and himself for ever leaving Loki alone. He should have brought Fury here to talk to him, he shouldn’t have trusted that Loki would be all right by himself. He’d not been all right for his entire stay in this place, being alone would have only exacerbated the situation. 

Thor got to his feet, still cradling Loki in his arms as he waited for a mop to be brought into the room to clean up the mess on the floor. He would worry about the rest once the guards and janitor were gone, he wasn’t about to strip Loki of his robe in front of everyone, but he would hopefully be able to clean the dried blood off him without waking him. He needed his sleep right now, he needed to heal after something so traumatizing to his body. Thor had no idea how painful the device was, but he knew the effect that it was having on Loki even when it wasn’t activated, and that alone spoke volumes. 

Glaring at the guards once more as they left once the floor was cleaned, Thor laid Loki down onto his mattress and carefully untied and removed his prison uniform, a thin shirt and pair of matching grey pants, tossing it aside. He couldn’t help but notice that his brother had grown thinner in the last month, his skin paler now, he looked unhealthy. Though the hadn’t been eating much, and the stress of the device had been weighing on him, so Thor knew he shouldn’t be surprised by the state Loki had gotten himself into. Touching his brother’s cheek for a moment, Thor couldn’t help but think that, despite Loki’s lack of fine clothes, his unhealthy appearance, cut forehead, and shaved scalp, he was still as striking as he’d always been. Though, he doubted that fact would be of any comfort to his brother now. 

“Loki, what did you do to yourself?” Thor sighed, going to get a wet cloth to clean off his brow, carefully wiping the dried blood away from the angry wound. There was quite a bit caked on the side of his temple and into his hair, and Thor needed to rinse the cloth out more than once into the small sink, ringing the dark pink water out before soaking it again and getting back to work. It took him a while to finish, he was careful to not aggravate the wound and meticulous in removing every trace of blood from Loki’s skin. Once he was finished, he gently redressed Loki in a clean uniform that has been left for him. 

“Thor…” Loki mumbled lowly after Thor finished covering him with a blanket, tucking it in around him, his voice barely audible even in the small, silent room. “Thor, what happened?”

“I do not know, I found you on the floor with your head split open. Did that device go off again, do you remember anything after I left?” Thor asked him, speaking slowly in case Loki got confused easily, he didn’t know how much the fall, or what caused it, had affected him. 

Loki didn’t answer for a moment, his eyes still closed, and Thor wondered if he’d gone back to sleep. He wouldn’t have blamed him if he did, he had sounded like he was barely awake when he spoke. 

“I didn’t try to use any magic, I didn’t try to pull at it, I swear to you, brother, it was not my doing…” Loki said with a little more strength this time, his green eyes opening just enough to look at Thor and turn his head towards him. “I was asking for you at the door, I wondered if you were going to be coming back, and suddenly, it went off on it’s own, and I remember nothing more. I don’t remember what I touched, what I did, just…being worried, that’s it. It must have been one of them…” 

He pulled his hand out from under the blanket and reached for Thor’s hand, taking it as firmly into his own as he could. He wanted to make sure his brother was really there, that he wasn’t some hallucination brought on by his head injury. He’d taken many blows before in his life, growing up with a brother like Thor meant that injuries were relatively commonplace, so why was this one hurting him so badly? What was this device doing to him?

“Something must have happened that you do not remember then,” Thor deduced finally, kneeling at Loki’s side, keeping a hold of his hand and giving it a squeeze. “But I am here now, I will prevent it from happening again. I am sorry I left, I should ha-“

“No…no, don’t you ever apologize to me,” Loki insisted suddenly, shaking his head a little and wincing from the pain that caused him. He forced his eyes open further, though they weren’t terribly focused as his distant gaze fell upon Thor. “You must never apologize to me, there is nothing to be sorry about. It is I who must…”

All his doubts and worries about apologizing to Thor earlier were muffled in his head, his need to say the words he thought he couldn’t speak was much stronger. He knew he wasn’t clear headed though, he knew this might not be the best move to make, but he didn’t have the strength to fight it right now. He had to speak, he would let the consequences be dealt with when he was of clearer mind to speak on them. 

“I’m the one who is sorry, Thor, I’m sorry,” Loki said weakly, feeling a lump growing in his throat and tears in his eyes as he did his best to continue. “I should not have been angry at you, you weren’t the one who slighted me, you never hurt me, you were just…convenient, in my way. You were Odin’s favourite, I was jealous, I didn’t know how to cope with that, but I…I loved you, I still love you, I don’t want to push you away from me, I need you. I’ve always needed you, so why did I do it? What is so wrong within me, brother? Why have you not given up when I have pushed you so hard away from me?” 

“As you have said before, I am stubborn as a goat, and about half as smart,” Thor said, looking into Loki’s eyes and giving him a half smile, wanting to ease Loki’s guilt. Reaching a hand up, he used the pad of his thumb to wipe away a tear that escaped Loki’s eye, running it along the top of his brother’s cheekbone. “I wanted my brother back and I was not about to give up, so I dug my heels in and did not let you push as much as you wanted to. There is nothing wrong with you, Loki, you have just lost your way, and I will help you find it if you let me.” 

Loki laughed weakly at the goat analogy, though he hadn’t wanted to. They were words he’d used himself many a time, aloud and in his head, but he didn’t want to think of Thor like that any more. Stubborn, maybe, but not in such a negative way any more, Thor’s determination not to budge has long proven itself to being beneficial to Loki. He wouldn’t have lasted nearly this long in this cell if he didn’t have such a strong stubborn streak in him. 

“Don’t listen to what I have said, I haven’t always been correct about you,” Loki said to him, not sure what to say about having lost his way. He didn’t know if that was true, or if that was the best way to put it if it was. He wished he could vocalize to Thor what it had felt like to discover the truth about his parentage, how sick and betrayed he’d felt, but there were no words for it, and this wasn’t the time to try to find them. 

“No, you have been, you know me better than anyone, and you do not hold back. You never hesitated to tell me exactly what you thought about what I was doing, and I should have listened better rather than dismiss you as being my troublesome brother. I have been greedy and selfish, but I am trying to change that. I want to be a better man,” Thor said, still stroking Loki’s face lovingly as he looked at those sad green eyes, wishing to see the spark of life in them once again. It had been weeks since Thor had seen that burning fire within Loki, since before the device first went off, when his brother had hated him and wanted him to leave. Though he was glad the hatred had stopped, it bothered Thor to no end to see Loki’s eyes so dead. 

“I’m sure you will make the All-Father proud,” Loki said, a bit of the old bitterness inadvertently creeping back into his voice as he pictured Odin lauding the improved and mature Thor in front of the entire court of Asgard. Thor was to be a good man, and a better king, and Loki would be no one, he’d be dead by the executioner’s axe, or the All-Father’s spear if he was feeling particularly personal. 

“Father is not the one in this room with me, I do not do it for him,” Thor insisted, leaning down to press a kiss to Loki’s brow as their mother used to before bed every night. “Now you are wounded, it is time to rest, I will be right here beside you when you wake.” 

Loki wanted to argue that he had more to say, that he should apologize for his last comment at least, but Thor had a point, he was exhausted, the stress from the pain of the device had drained him of energy. He couldn’t eat when he was like this either, which didn’t help him regain him strength any faster. He could sleep, however, and he knew he needed to. 

“Promise me you’ll stay close,” Loki demanded, letting his eyes closed as he took Thor’s hand again. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust his brother to keep his promise and stay close, but Loki was feeling particularly demanding in his weakened state. 

“I promise,” Thor said, letting Loki have his hand, shifting to sit at the edge of his mattress. Once Loki was asleep, he would return to his own mere feet away, but he’d keep a close eye on Loki lest he need him at any time. “Sleep, Loki. You will feel better when you wake.”

Thor watched his brother drift off, his hand going slack in Thor’s as his body finally relaxed. Tucking Loki’s arm back against his side, Thor covered him with the blanket once again, taking a moment to run his hand over Loki’s short hair. He used to love having his hair played with, but now this was as close as it came to carding those long dark locks. Thor would do anything to comfort him, anything to make him sleep easier so he could regain his strength, and maybe a bit of himself as well.

Sitting on his bed, Thor watched over his brother in silence, waiting for him to so much as stir. Then he would be right by his side again, he would be ready for whatever Loki needed him to do.


	10. Chapter 10

When Loki woke, there was silence in his cell once more. The only light filtering into the cell came from the slit in the door, and though it didn’t cast much into the room, but it was enough to confirm Loki’s worst fears. Not only was Thor gone, but his bed was missing as well, along with every other trace he was ever staying in this room along side him. Getting to his feet, Loki felt the panic rising within him as he shuffled over to that empty spot where his brother had once slept, looking for any sign that he’d even existed in this small, shared space. 

How could he have left so quickly and quietly? Why had he left? Why hadn’t he said goodbye? The questions were running through Loki’s head, and with each one, his stomach twisted and knotted inside him. Why would Thor leave if he’d apologized? What had he done wrong? He didn’t see his brother leaving quietly unless he wanted to, if he was forced there would have been more than enough noise to wake Loki from his slumber. None of it made sense to him, or rather, he didn’t want it to make sense. He didn’t want to think of this place on his own, without Thor there to comfort him, to help him pass the time, to be there when he needed him. 

Maybe he was selfish to think that Thor was going to stay longer than he did. He had no reason to, after all, he had his own friends to go be with, his own family, the woman he loved. Why would Thor give up all of that on top of his freedom to stay in a tiny cage with the brother who had betrayed him? Loki was lucky he stayed as long as he did, he should have left weeks ago to return to Asgard, or to the people he cared for on Midgard, because whatever they lived while locked in this place most certainly wasn’t life. 

“Thor…please come back…” Loki whispered into the darkness, aware of how selfish he was being, and not caring. He should be happy for his brother not having to live locked up in a small cell for a crime he didn’t commit, but his overwhelming need for Thor overrode all of that. “Thor, I will apologize with my every word, I will be the brother you have missed, I will do anything, but don’t leave me alone in this place. I can’t…I can’t do it, I can’t last here, this is worse than death. They will destroy everything in me until there will be nothing left that you would recognize, I can feel it starting already, you were the only thing keeping me from letting go, _please_ …”

There came a heavy bang on the door, accompanied by a familiar gruff voice. 

“Quiet in there!” the guard snapped before saying something unintelligible to his partner. “Stop talking to yourself!”

“Where is he? Where’s my brother?” Loki pleaded, going over to the door and raising a hand to knock on it when it opened wide, both guards entering the small room with weapons drawn. Stumbling backwards, Loki put his hands up in surrender, though he was still desperate to know what had happened with Thor. “Please, an answer is all I ask, I’m begging you!” 

“Turn around and down on your knees!” the guard barked, waiting for Loki to do as he was told, which he did so slowly. “Burke, turn up the intensity.”

“The intensity of what? Where is my brother? Where is Thor? Why are you doing this?” Loki’s heart was beating fast, hoping he didn’t already know the answer to the first question, turning a little to see what the man called Burke was doing and receiving a blow with the stock of a gun to his face for his efforts. 

“I said turn around!” the first guard ordered, ready to strike again as Burke fiddled with the device he’d unhooked from his belt. “This is for New York City, you bastard, this is for all the innocent people you fucked with. God, my ass, you broke as fast as any human would have in here. And we’re going to have you begging us to put you out of your pathetic misery when we’re done with you. You thought it was bad before, this’ll have your brain melting out your ears. Ready there, Burke?” 

“Please don’t do this, don’t do this to me, I’m sorry, I am truly sorry, just don’t do this…” Loki begged desperately, terrified of what was about to happen, the pain he was about to feel. He couldn’t imagine anything as intense as what he’d felt before when the device was triggered, but if it was turned up, he knew he’d rather die than experience what he was about it. 

“Ready,” the other guard said with a chuckle. “This is going to be fun.”

“THOR!!” Loki screamed out in desperation as he heard the click of the button behind him, bracing himself as best he could for the horrible pain when-

“Loki, Loki, you’re shouting!” Thor had been snapped from his own rest by Loki thrashing and whining in his sleep, lost in a bad dream Thor could only try to shake him from. When he heard his brother crying out his own name in such terror, Thor couldn’t help but wonder exactly what was torturing his brother so. He was relieved when Loki’s eyes finally opened, and his hands stilled on his brother’s shoulders, rubbing them rather than shaking them. 

“Thor…?” Loki said, his voice small and confused as he looked up at his older brother, his entire body shaking as the memories of the dream lay fresh in his mind. It took him a moment to realize he was awake, and Thor’s absence as well as the two guards had been figments of his fearful mind. Nothing was trying to hurt him, no one had abandoned him, it had all been nothing but a dream, albeit a vivid one. So why couldn’t he calm down?

“You were crying out in your sleep, and then you shouted my name, what were you dreaming about?” Thor asked, concerned as he cupped his brother’s face against his palm, his thumb tracing over his cheekbone softly. Loki used to have nightmares often as a little boy and Thor would always sit up with him until he went back to sleep, he didn’t see why now should be any different. 

“You were gone, your bed, everything was gone, and I was upset to wake up alone when the guards came in and told me they were going to make the device more intense. They made me kneel on the floor and told me how intense it would be and I was so afraid in that I wanted to…” Loki cut himself off, unable to look Thor in the eye, he felt like a child afraid of the monsters under his bed again, ashamed that he was keeping Thor awake with his nonsense, again with his selfishness. “I called out to you because I was afraid, and I can not live in fear of the next time I will be in pain any more, it’s haunting me even in my dreams.”

“Why would you ever think I would leave you here alone? You should have known then it was nothing but a dream,” Thor sighed softly, reaching over to pull his own mattress over against Loki’s, wanting to be close to him for the rest of the night if he was going to be having dreams such as that one. 

“I’m always afraid to wake up and see that you have left, and I feel selfish for being so happy when I do see you, knowing that I’m keeping you here. Because you have reason to leave, you have people outside of this room that love and care for you, you have duties to the All-Father, you have good times and great battles and…everything. You have everything waiting for you,” Loki said to him, watching as Thor dragged his bed closer, the feelings of guilt returning as he watched Thor get comfortable beside him, his eyes meeting his brother’s. “You shouldn’t be locked up here with me.”

“Loki, my brother…” Thor shook his head, putting an arm around Loki to pull him closer, looking into those sad green eyes before pressing another kiss on his brow, letting his lips remain for a moment. “You should know by now that you are more important to me than all of that. You are everything to me.”

Loki closed his eyes, pushing tears from underneath his eyelids as he reached his hands up to grasp the sides of Thor’s face, wanting to give him a shake and tell him he was mad. Instead, he brought his lips to Thor’s, pressing them together as he trembled, his hands gripping his brother’s cheeks as he let the kiss linger. He wasn’t entirely sure what possessed him in that moment to kiss Thor, and he was almost terrified of the reaction he was going to have until he felt his brother’s lips stir against his own. And, for the first time in a month, he felt something other than dread and depression, he felt a security he didn’t think he could possibly feel ever again, he wasn’t alone in the universe, he was Thor’s. 

When the kiss finally broke, Loki wanted to explain himself, though instead he quickly wiped his eyes free of tears and buried his face against Thor’s chest, arms wrapping around his waist. He didn’t want to speak, and Thor picked up on that, simply adjusting his position on the mattress to accommodate Loki as he pulled their blankets over both of them. Once Thor was content with the two of them being properly covered, he wrapped a strong arm around Loki and held him close, rubbing his back in slow circles. Even long after Loki’s body had relaxed against him, Thor stayed awake, listening for any sign of a nightmare from his younger brother, determined to keep them at bay as best as he could. 

It was after daybreak when Thor lost his battle against his own exhaustion and drifted off, a slight smile at the memory of that kiss on his lips.


	11. Chapter 11

The other Avengers had been trying to visit Thor since he began his incarceration with his brother, though the thunder god would only see them at the door at the most, accepting whatever gifts of food or forms of entertainment they brought for him. He didn’t want to leave Loki on his own just to be social, not when he was so troubled, it didn’t seem right to him, despite what his friends said to coax him out. He had missed their company, and as much as he did like their visits, they had to be done on his terms for the time being at least. 

So when Clint had come to the door before lunch that afternoon, Thor was ready to once again politely refuse when a voice behind him spoke up. 

“Thor, just go, enjoy the company of your friends,” Loki insisted, not looking up from his book as he sat with his legs stretched out on his mattress, his lap covered by his and Thor’s blankets. “I have books, I can lie down if I want, I’ll be fine.”

In truth, Loki didn’t know how accurate that would be. He was nervous to be without the company of this brother, and he was even more nervous that these friends of his would try to turn Thor against him. Part of him, the last logical corner of his mind, said that Thor wouldn’t be so easily persuaded, he loved Loki, something he’d said many times, and the two wouldn’t be separated by a few words. The rest of Loki’s brain, the much louder part, fretted that he wouldn’t see Thor again, that something bad would happen when he was gone, or something equally horrible. He knew he had to be calm though, he had to show Thor that he trusted him. 

“If you are sure,” Thor said, bending down to give Loki a kiss, cupping his cheek for a moment as their lips pressed together. He didn’t care if Clint saw it, he would gladly explain to him or the Avengers that he loved Loki, though he was certain they should know that by now. “I will return soon.”

“I know,” Loki said, though he didn’t. He just hoped so very much. “See you soon.”

He turned back to his book as Thor walked out, but he found himself too distracted to read, his eyes skimming over the words without understanding them. Still, as difficult as it had been to let Thor go, he had to believe he did the right thing, as much as the nagging voice in his head said otherwise. Things had been better in the last few days since Loki had kissed Thor, they’d enjoyed a closeness Loki desperately needed, but as much as he felt like he was slowly getting back on his feet after hitting rock bottom, he was still wary about falling again. 

 

“Thor! You made it!” Tony stood up from his chair in the small conference room they’d taken over, going over to clap Thor on the back, holding a half finished coffee in the other hand. He hadn’t exactly thought that Thor was going to come out to see everyone, even if they did go to the trouble of getting together just for him, but he was glad that Clint managed to convince him to come out. “So what did you say, Clint? Bribe him? Blackmail? How did you get him to come out when none of us could get him to budge.”

“Actually, I can’t take the credit on this, him leaving was Loki’s idea,” Clint said with a shrug, feeling it wouldn’t be entirely appropriate to just mention everything he’d seen while he was waiting for Thor. He’d wait until Thor was gone to pass out that particular bit of information. 

“Loki’s?” Steve perked up, straightening up from where he was leaning against the wall. “Why would Loki want you gone? Unless-“

“There is no sinister plot, I assure you,” Thor interrupted before Steve or anyone else could infer otherwise. “He wanted some time to read on his own, that is all. Besides, he would not go anywhere without me, and he can not go anywhere with S.H.I.E.L.D.’s device on his neck. He is perfectly safe and secure where he is right now.” 

“How is this place treating you?” Bruce asked from his chair on the other side of the conference table, patting a stack of boxes in front of him. “We brought pizza, figured it was better than what you’ve been eating.”

“I am comfortable here, but Loki is not, I spoke to Fury about removing the device they installed on him so I may take him from here,” Thor said, wondering what pizza tasted as he walked over to the boxes, unaware of the looks the others were giving him as he curiously opened a lid. "It smells good, thank you, friends."

"Take him from here? You mean free him?" Steve broke the silence, his eyebrows raised. "After everything we went through to catch him, what we all had to go through, you think he's learned his lesson and he's ready to be released into society?"

"Be fair, Steve, it's been what, five weeks? I'm pretty sure that's what most people get for mass murder nowadays," Tony said, unable to believe Thor would be that naive. The man wasn't brilliant by any means but Tony knew he at least had some common sense, or he hoped he did anyway. 

"Please say it's because you're taking him back to Asgard," Natasha said from her seat next to Bruce, sitting up a bit to tear a piece of pizza off to show Thor how it was done. 

"If I bring him back to Asgard, he faces the wrath of our father, and I can not guarantee that will mean Loki lives. I do not know if I can take that chance," Thor said, taking a bite of the strange food and grunting in approval. He liked pizza. "I must do what is best for him."

"What about what’s best for everyone else?" Clint asked him with a frown. 

"Loki has changed, this place has broken him, he is of no danger to anyone but himself any more," Thor assured them, hoping they could just trust his judgment on this. After all, he knew Loki better than anyone, here or otherwise, his word should be all they need. "Besides, he would not be alone, he would be with me, I have sworn to ."

"And what if he slips away from you? What if this is all a ruse and he's just waiting to get away?" Bruce asked, crossing his arms, wishing his friend would see some sense. Loki was dangerous, and he was damn good at making plans, they all knew that much, there was a good chance that this 'broken' Loki was just an elaborate act. 

Thor paused for a moment between bites, looking around the room at the faces staring back at him. They didn't appear to trust him outright as he hoped, but he supposed it was hard for them considering what they'd seen Loki do, and that they hadn't seen what he'd become now. 

"I know Loki is notorious for his lies and tricks, but I have never seen him like this before, I know this is not part of a plan. He is my brother, and he is in pain, he needs my assistance,” Thor said with conviction, eyeing the others as if waiting for the next one to argue with him on this point. “I would not do this if I thought he was still a threat, I am not brainless.”

“No one said you were, we’re just concerned about your plan,” Clint said, though he was concerned about more than that. Loki had Thor wrapped around his little finger, Thor hadn’t even wanted to leave the room until Loki gave him permission to, and that kiss, what was that about? 

“I will not let Loki hurt another being, I am responsible for him, I ask you to trust in me,” Thor said, his voice determined. He didn’t want to argue with his friends, but at the same time he didn’t appreciate not being depended on to make this decision on his own. They hadn’t seen Loki in over a month, they had no idea about the state he was in, they didn’t sit by his side day and night, and they hadn’t seen what that horrible device could do to him. 

The others just looked at each other, no one quite knowing what to say to that. Trusting in Thor wasn’t the issue here, it was trusting in Loki that none of them could get their head around. 

 

The rest of his visit with the other Avengers went well with no more mention of Loki from anyone, a topic Thor appreciated them dropping. He would rather hear about what the others were doing with their time, and freedom, living vicariously through his friends as they spoke of the world outside of these walls. As they spoke, Thor couldn’t help but feel jealous, craving a taste of fresh air and the feeling of the sun on his skin. It had been nearly a month and a half, but it felt like so much longer. He needed to get out of here soon, and he needed to take his brother with him. He might be the one who missed the sun, but Loki was the one who looked like he was wilting without it. 

Heading back to the cell, Thor frowned when he saw both of Loki’s guards standing with their faces pressed against the door, obviously interested in something within it. As he approached, he saw a strange device in the shorter guard’s hand, his meaty thumb pressed against it as he said something to his partner, chuckling, though his laughter quickly died upon seeing Thor striding towards him. 

“What is the meaning of this? What are you doing?” Thor demanded, shoving both men aside as he peered in at Loki, his heart twisting in his chest at the sight of his brother lying on the bed on his side, blood running from his ear. Turning on the guards, Thor couldn’t contain his anger, grabbing both men and sending them flying into the nearest wall, knocking them unconscious. As much as he wanted to pummel them, to beat them within inches of their lives for what they had done, he had more important matters to deal with. 

Opening the door, Thor rushed inside, feeling sick to his stomach as he looked down at Loki lying still on the mattress. Dried blood caked around his ear and his nose along with the fresh supply of it still trickling down from both orifices. His green eyes were blank and staring, the whites stained red with burst blood vessels, the flesh around them bruised. He’d left bloody cuts in the palms of his hands, as well as other various marks over his neck and face, from his nails, which were firmly buried into the flesh of his hand. It didn’t take a genius to figure out the dried blood mixed with the new meant that this torture was going on for some time, likely starting after Thor left. 

“Loki! Loki, speak to me!” Thor yelled, panic seizing him as he looked for any sign of life in his brother’s body, his own tears obscuring his vision. Why had he listened to Loki? Why hadn’t he stayed? He knew his place was here by Loki’s side, not eating pizza and hearing grand tales of freedom, he should have been here to protect his brother. “Loki, I beg of you, I am sorry, please wake up, please say anything, let me know you live.”

But there was nothing, not so much as a blink or a sound. Loki lay perfectly still as Thor knelt down at his side, carefully gathering him in his arms. He was taking him to Fury. Whether Loki was dead or alive, his time in this cell had come to an end.


	12. Chapter 12

Thor marched into Nick Fury’s office without hesitation, still cradling Loki’s body in his arms as he approached Fury’s desk with anger and fear in his eyes. Loki was still unresponsive, staring blankly at the ceiling above, the flow of blood finally ebbing from his nose and ears. Thor had yet to see any signs of life from his brother, yet he still held out hope that Loki lived, if only because he couldn’t imagine the alternative. 

“Thor, what-?” Fury stood up from the other side of his desk, looking at Loki in shock. 

“You are lucky he is in my arms! I would tear this place apart and you as well! Your men did this, with their own devices, they tortured him and now I do not know if he still lives! Was this the purpose of that thing you put on him, to have him killed in such a cowardly way?” Thor snapped, gripping Loki tighter against his chest. “If you meant to execute him, you should have told me! I would have taken him home to Asgard to die as a prince, not as an animal!”

“Hold on, I never meant for him to die, this was a security measure, this was never meant as an object of torture, of execution, it was just meant to keep him from using his magic against us or breaking out,” Fury stood up, getting a better look at Loki as his stomach twisted at the sight of the being that had once been his enemy. He wasn’t a cruel man, at least he didn’t think he was, but whoever had done this to Loki had been. He didn’t know how long the chip would have to be activated to produce results like this, but it was much longer than Loki would have been able to stand if he was trying to get out or use his magic. This was inflicted upon him, there was no doubt in Fury’s mind. 

“What was that thing? What did it do to him?” Thor demanded to know, though he didn’t know how much it mattered now. He needed to know though, he wanted an idea of what Loki went through 

“It uses his energy against him, it converts all the magic in his body into pure electrical energy, amplifies it, and it sends it though his spinal column and throughout his body. It’s painful, but it’s only supposed to last a moment, seconds if that, it’s not supposed to be used like this,” Fury said, reaching a hand over to place on Thor’s arm, not knowing what else to do to comfort him. “Thor, I’m sorry, this was not my intent for Loki, despite his crimes. This wasn’t supposed to happen to him.” 

Thor’s eyes welled with tears that spilled silently down his cheeks, a sick feeling welling in his stomach. They used Loki as a weapon against himself, he was tortured by his own body, by those men who were there to watch him. He wanted to go back down there and take out his rage and pain on those men, they needed to hurt like Loki had, but he couldn’t even begin to move from where he stood, and nothing would make him put Loki down. 

“He had changed, you know, he had apologized, and I know he meant it. I know that does not bring back the people he killed, it does not fix what he destroyed, but it is something. It means something to me,” Thor looked down into Loki’s blank eyes, willing them to move only to be disappointed. “I should have taken him straight to Asgard, I should not have left him in your care to put devices on him, but I thought I was doing what was best for him. I failed him.”

Fury wanted to tell Thor that he did more than most people would have done, but he didn’t think Thor wanted to hear it. He wasn’t sure what Thor wanted to hear exactly, if there was anything he could say or do to make things seem at all better. Loki still hadn’t stirred, he didn’t know if he was dead or alive but he assumed it was the first based on the state of him. 

“We can take the chip out, and you can take him home and…” Fury trailed off, not quite sure what the Asgardians did with their dead, but the least he could do was remove the metal piece from the base of his skull. “It was never meant for that, again, I’m so sorry Thor. The men who did this will be punished.”

“They will not be punished enough, they will not get what they deserve,” Thor shot back, giving Loki a gentle shake, his heart aching as Loki continued to lie still. “They deserve to stand before Odin and hear his judgment. He may have lost his patience for Loki but he was still his son, he was still raised on Asgard despite being Jotun, the men that did this to him should face an Asgardian trial.”

“I can’t do that, Thor, I’m sorry, I can’t in good conscious hand over two humans for Odin to judge, but they will face our justice,” Fury assured him. 

“Will they be fitted with devices then? Will they too be tormented by their guards? Is this what you propose because that is all I will accept. If it is good enough for Loki, it is good enough for them!” Thor barked angrily, his face flushed red. “I want them to live how he had to live, I want them to feel his fear and his pain, can you promise me that?”

Fury paused for a moment to look into Thor’s eyes before he broke eye contact, shaking his head. “Loki was the only one we’d ever put a chip into. Seeing what they do now, there’s no way I can authorize their use ever again, not in the current state they’re in anyway. I had no idea they could be used this way or I wouldn’t have condoned putting one on your brother, believe me.”

“So if they will not face Asgardian justice nor the device, what will they face? How will they pay?” Thor asked, becoming more and more outraged by the moment. If they were to forced to sit alone in a cell for the rest of their lives, he wouldn’t consider that to be enough. Not considering the manner in which they tortured Loki, men like that didn’t deserve to walk free. They were cowards, sick, twisted cowards, and he would see them pay the appropriate price whether Fury agreed with it or not. 

“Thor…”

A small whisper broke Thor out of his angry train of thought and he looked down at his brother in surprise. He didn’t know if he would ever hear Loki speak again, but to hear his own name, no matter how weakly it was spoken, brought a wide smile to his reddened face. 

“Loki!! Brother, I thought you had-“

“Asgard,” Loki said, finally blinking, though his eyes barely opened after they closed. “Home…” 

Thor opened his mouth to speak, though all he did was nod slowly instead. He couldn’t stay here any longer, chip or no chip, this place was killing him slowly. If he went home to Asgard, the executioner would be much quicker, and even if Odin cast Loki down to the dungeon, the room would be bigger, the surroundings more familiar, and Thor would stay with him there too if need be, despite what the All-Father said. He prayed Loki’s punishment would be the latter. 

“If you wish me to take you home, I will,” Thor said to him softly, swallowing past the lump in his throat. He was sure Loki had accepted the consequences of seeing Odin again to ask to go back to Asgard, but that didn’t mean Thor had to like them. “I will speak to father to be lenient towards you, that you have already been punished here.”

Loki just closed his eyes once again, too weak to reply, in moments he was unconscious once more, limp in Thor’s arms. He’d used up the little energy he had to beg for what he needed most, an end to all of this, by any means necessary. The humans had broken him, he was barely alive and unable to continue like this any more, all he wanted now was the mercy of an Asgardian cell or blade. 

“We’ll take the chip out and you can leave with him, but Thor, I’m trusting you here that you can control your brother without it. We can leave it in, turn it down somehow, give you a remote to control it responsibly and if he-“ Fury began, wanting to keep this chip on Loki now that he knew he still lived. Loki would recover, and possibly be more dangerous than ever if he hoped to seek revenge on what was done against him in this place. Fury had to think of the safety of everyone in S.H.I.E.L.D. after all, this wasn’t just a normal prisoner he was letting free, this was a very powerful god. 

“The chip comes out immediately, I will not take him home with that thing attached to the back of his head, it is bad enough you cut his hair,” Thor said curtly, though he was almost afraid to let Loki go for the operation, he didn’t trust the doctors and scientists that would create such a thing as this device. He wished he could take it out himself, but he knew he couldn’t do it without hurting Loki badly, and the healers of Asgard would likely have no idea what this thing was, let alone how to take it off without setting it off. He would have to try to trust in S.H.I.E.L.D. for the time being.

“Then I’ll make the phone call and get it done,” Fury said, dread in his voice and heart. Thor said he could control Loki, but Fury wasn’t buying it. He didn’t want to lose a powerful ally such as Thor, however, and he really didn’t want an all out war with Asgard for torturing one of its princes. “Are you very sure about this, Thor? Once it’s done, it’s done, and he’ll be free to use his magic all over again.” 

Thor nodded, looking down at his brother in his arms. Loki wasn’t himself without his magic, it was part of who he was, and shutting it off had changed Loki overnight. Though part of Thor’s mind worried that this really all was an elaborate plan to be freed and able to use magic again, he was sure that Loki was sincere this time, that he’d meant what he said in that time they shared a cell. Thor was certain that Loki had learned something in their time together, and that he would continue to when he went home to Asgard. The other Avengers may think him to be naïve about his brother’s true intentions, but he knew Loki, and this time it didn’t feel like he was trying to cause mischief. It felt genuine, and Thor was going to accept it as such, despite what everyone else had to say about it. 

“I am sure,” Thor said with a nod, his voice stern. “Call your people, I mean to take him home with me as soon as possible.”


	13. Chapter 13

After Loki was cleaned up and the chip removed, Thor dressed him in another clean grey uniform, his own clothes long gone now. Thor would have to see about getting Loki properly redressed before many people saw him when they got back to Asgard. It may not be much, but it would be better than approaching the All-Father dressed in thin, plain clothing such as this. Loki deserved some dignity, though Thor doubted he had much left within him. When he awoke again from his operation to remove the chip, he could barely look Thor in the eye, and his head and shoulders remained drooped. 

“Loki…” Thor said after they arrived on Asgard, frowning at the state his brother was in. He truly believed Loki had no hope left in him, that he didn’t think Thor could sway their father to spare Loki’s life. “He will not have you killed, I will not allow it.”

Loki’s posture didn’t change as he continued to walk, still weakened from earlier, his hand clutching Thor’s to help pull himself along the road to the palace. He wished he could hold his head up high and walk in there to receive whatever punishment he had coming to him, that he could show them that even the humans best efforts at imprisonment were nothing to a being such as him, but no. The humans had won and succeeded in breaking him, and now he returned to Asgard with his tail between his legs, no more than a whimpering shadow of his former self. 

“If he does, so be it,” Loki said quietly, without fear in his voice. He didn’t care if he died, it would mean he didn’t have to be like this any more, weakened and frightened. Even without the chip on his neck, he occasionally flinched as he waited for it to go off. They might as well have left it on, Loki’s memory wasn’t letting it go. 

“Do not say that, I could not bear your death,” Thor felt sick even thinking about it. For Loki it may be a convenient end to all his problems and sorrows, but Thor would have to keep going after that, and he didn’t want to think about a life without Loki in it, especially considering the closeness the two of them now shared. “I will only be able to bear your incarceration because I will share it with you again, I do not want to leave you alone for long. Whether I have Father’s blessing or not, your cell will be my room.” 

Loki didn’t speak for a moment, keeping his head down as he stared as the pathetic slippers he was given when he left his prison. He felt like he was marching through Asgard in his nightclothes, and it was thoroughly humiliating on top of having his hair shaved off. He felt naked, vulnerable, and neither helped his spirits, he just wanted to get this over with, whatever was going to happen to him. 

“Why are you so convinced he will let me live?” Loki asked finally, his voice low and shaky as he looked over at his brother finally, wondering how he could have so much hope. 

“Because Mother and I do not wish for you to die, and Father will listen to us,” Thor said with determination. “And Heimdall himself can tell him what you went through on Midgard, how you were punished there, that has to be worth something.” 

Loki smiled, though it was forced, stopping in his tracks to look at Thor. Reaching his free hand up, he cupped Thor’s cheek, kissing his lips softly, resting their foreheads together. 

“…You are giving up, is that it? Do not give up, Loki…” Thor begged him, panic rising within him again as he let go of Loki’s hand and wrapped his strong arms around his younger brother to pull him closer. “I will do anything for you, I will not fail you this time, Loki. What happened back there was my fault, I should not have left you. More than that, I should not have let S.H.I.E.L.D. put that thing on you, and I should not have let them keep you in that cell. You should have come home the moment the battle had ended, and defended you to Father, but I did not want you risk losing you, as angry as I was. I was selfish, I am sorry.”

Loki’s smile this time was more genuine, but there was sadness in his eyes. He felt guilty watching Thor blame himself for everything, seeing how much this tore his brother up, it wasn’t his intend in all of this to cause Thor so much heartache. He wasn’t giving up because he thought Thor couldn’t save him, he was giving up because he didn’t think there was any reason to be saved. He just didn’t have the heart to say that to Thor, he didn’t want to see him give up too. 

“Don’t be sorry,” Loki said, shaking his head a little. “In all of this, don’t you be sorry. I did this, it is of my own making and now I have to pay for that. I don’t want you to be in pain whatever is decided, you did your best for me but I realized it too late. There are many things I realized too late but there is nothing to be done about that. So please, in this time we have left, let’s not speak of regrets and things we wished we’d done, let’s just…” 

He kissed Thor again, letting it linger this time, arms wrapping around his neck and drawing him in closer. He didn’t care who saw them, he didn’t care if the All-Father himself walked up to them, he wasn’t going to tear them apart, this was their moment. Thor was his, his heart belonged to him, and that was the only thing that gave Loki any sense of power right now. 

“Brother, please fight for your life,” Thor whispered against Loki’s lips as he heard footsteps approaching, rightly assuming that it was the guards sent to take Loki into custody. “If not for yourself, fight for me. I beg of you.” 

“I don’t know how much fight I have left in me, I don’t know what I have left, if anything,” Loki said softly, regretting his words as he spoke them when he saw how much they hurt Thor. “I love you, that’s all I have, I truly do have that, don’t look so crushed.”

“Loki Laufeyson-“

“Quiet!” Thor barked at the guards, holding Loki closer and staring him down in a challenge. If he wanted to take Loki, he wasn’t going to be able to do so without a fight. “Go tell Odin if he wants to take Loki as a prisoner, he can come do so himself! I am not letting him go into your custody!” 

“I will walk to Odin myself,” Loki said to the men, who didn’t look like they wanted to try to fight Thor just to obey Odin’s orders. “If you feel the need to accompany me to the throne room, go ahead, but you will answer to Thor if you lay a hand on me.” 

It wasn’t that Loki feared these guards, they were Asgardian, they had no tricks up their sleeves or hidden weapons that would cause him crippling pain. At the most, they would have shoved him around a bit, but Loki still hurt from before, and the only person he could stomach touching him wasn’t going to let anyone hurt him. He might as well take advantage of that while he still could. 

“Very well,” one of the guards said, waiting with his men until Loki began to walk again, keeping with Loki’s slow pace. 

“Loki, you do not have to do this, I will tell Father you are weak, give you time to recover in your rooms before you see him,” Thor offered, wanting to buy Loki any time he could so he would be able to persuade Odin on his own that Loki had suffered enough. 

“No, I don’t want to wait, I want to get this over with. I can’t live with it hanging over my head any longer, it’s better to just do it now,” Loki said with a hint of annoyance in his voice. He didn’t want to argue with Thor over this, he’d like the last moments of his life to be as peaceful as they could be, considering the last month and a half. He couldn’t expect Thor to understand, however, he had only seen what Loki had been through, he hadn’t experienced it. The pain was still unbearable as he moved, even as his chest rose and fell with each breath, but more than that, he was tired. Even Thor’s love couldn’t wake him up. 

“As you wish,” Thor took Loki by the hand once more, his thumb running over his knuckles gently as he began to walk with his brother towards the palace. He wished he could change Loki’s mind, he wished there was somewhere safe he could take him, far from Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. and his father, a place where they could just live together in peace. But Thor knew there was no such place. Heimdall could find them wherever they ran, meaning Odin wouldn’t be far behind. 

“Thank you, Thor, it’s not that I don’t want the time with you, I’m just exhausted, I need to know my fate,” Loki said, stumbling a little as his weakness began to catch up with him. The road was so long, much longer than he’d remembered it seeming, and his body was getting heavier by the second. Stumbling over his feet, Loki’s legs gave out and spilled him to the ground in a heap, despite Thor’s attempt to pull him up by his arm. 

“Loki, no more of this, your pride is hurting you!” Thor said sharply, bending down to scoop Loki up into his arms, not taking no for an answer. He could walk into Odin’s throne room if he so wanted, but he wasn’t going to walk all the way to the palace. “Let me get you there and we will worry then about how you will make it the rest of the way.”

Loki leaned his head against Thor’s shoulder, not wanting to argue with him as he closed his eyes. He felt like he should be protesting this on some level, but he couldn’t bring himself to. It felt so comforting to be carried this way, he could finally relax and try to ignore the pain for a while. 

“Are you alright, brother?” Thor said after a few minutes, unsure if Loki had fallen asleep in his arms by how limp his body had gone, until Loki tensed up a little. “Are you in pain?” 

“I am always in pain,” Loki said quietly, not opening his eyes. “I have been in pain since they put that thing on me, and even with it gone, the memory of it haunts me. What did they do to me, Thor? I don’t understand how I could have so easily been broken…”

“You weren’t easily broken, you were tortured,” Thor corrected him as they approached the palace. “I do not want to hear that you were weak because you were not, that thing they put on you…I would not put it on my greatest enemies. There are no words for what they did to you, Loki.”

Loki finally opened his eyes as the sound of Thor’s footfalls changed as they entered the palace. He opened his mouth to ask Thor to place him back on his feet, but Thor anticipated his request and carefully set him down. 

“…this is it,” Loki whispered, straightening the grey shirt and pants as best he could. He didn’t feel like walking in front of Odin dressed like this, he felt like he was in his nightclothes in front of the entire court, though at least in his nightclothes he’d have more of a sense of dignity. He could at least explain that. 

“It does not have to be,” Thor urged him, wanting him to change his mind as he looked at the guards surrounding them, waiting for Loki to move again. 

“It does, Thor, for my own sanity, it has to be now,” Loki said to him, looking into Thor’s eyes and touching his cheeks, leaning in to kiss him again. Though, now that he was here, facing Thor for possibly the last time, he didn’t want to receive his sentence. He didn’t want to leave Thor behind, he didn’t want to be taken from him now that they’d repaired things between them, now that he knew how much he truly loved his brother. “I wish things were different, I’m so sorry…” 

“Do not apologize, I don’t want to hear that,” Thor said, aware that the guards were closing in on them, his hand nearing on Mjolnir though he only wanted to keep his touch on Loki. “I will not let anyone take you, Loki, not even Father, you are going to be fine one way or another.”

“I love you, do you want to hear that?” Loki could only smile weakly, extending his hands to be cuffed as he kept his eyes on Thor’s, if only to keep himself calm. He could feel the All-Father’s gaze on him from across the throne room, he was afraid to turn and look at him though, he didn’t want to turn away from Thor’s comforting blue eyes. 

Thor extended his hands, taking Loki’s bound ones in his own, squeezing them tightly. The guards were ready to take him now, and as much as Thor wanted to fight, he had to respect Loki’s wishes to let this judgment happen, whether he liked it or not. It wouldn’t stop Thor from walking to confront his father on Loki’s behalf though, he was going to fight for his brother’s life with everything in him. 

“I always want to hear that…unless it is said as a goodbye,” Thor said with a weak smile of his own, his hand giving Loki’s one last squeeze. “I love you, Loki…” 

As their hands separated, Thor felt the urge to weep rising within him, watching Loki slowly being led up towards their father with Thor close behind. He wanted to be at Loki’s side, he wanted to rip those chains from his wrists, it was obvious that he was too weak to do anything anyway, the added weight only slowed Loki’s pace more so. He looked up at his father next, hoping to see mercy for his broken, injured son in his solitary blue eye and seeing nothing but coldness and a hint of anger. 

For the first time, Thor began to lose the little hope he had, fearing that Loki had been right in guessing his fate. Their last declarations of love may very well have been goodbyes after all.


	14. Chapter 14

Loki sat alone in his quiet little cell, idly staring up at the ceiling as he waited out these last few hours in peace. Thor would be here soon, he was already late, who knows where the All-Father had him, but Loki was certain that Thor didn’t stay away by his own choice. As he ran a hand over his short dark hair and the scar on the back of his neck, he let out a shaken sigh, wishing for Thor to appear, or Frigga, any comforting face to give him hope in the last bit of time he had left of his life. Odin’s verdict of death had been swift, and of no surprise to Loki, though he couldn’t help but see the utter heartbreak on Thor’s face as he was lead down to the dungeons. 

Thor had kept his promise and ignored Odin’s wishes, staying with Loki any chance he got, assuring him he wouldn’t let Odin execute him, that he would find a way to get him out of there and to safety before the blade could find Loki’s neck. Loki had wanted to believe him, he really did, and it didn’t make him love Thor any less to see him fail, but he only had a few hours left and there was no sign of him or anyone else. 

“Thor…please…” he begged softly into the silence. “Please don’t make me do this alone. I don’t care if you save me or not, I just don’t want to be alone…” 

“And who says you are alone?” 

Loki sat up, spotting Odin standing alone outside of his cell, his heart lurching in his chest. Thor had failed, he’d been caught and now Odin was here to rub it in that Loki’s savior wasn’t going to make it in time to save him. He didn’t think he had hope for Thor’s plan until now that it had died, it saddened him a bit to know that he’d truly believed in Thor even despite the odds. He did love that man deeply, if only he’d realized it sooner. 

“Hello, All-Father,” Loki said quietly. “I thought I had a few hours left before we were to meet again.”

Odin ignored Loki’s comment, pacing slowly as he looked in at the man that had once been his son, the child he’d had so much hope for. 

“Do you think I want this?” Odin asked him finally. “Do you think that it brings me joy to see you here?”

“No…it makes two of us, I don’t want to be here as well, and I take no joy in my imprisonment, or my death,” Loki said to him, rising to walk over to the door of his cell in front of Odin, arms at his side, glad to at least have been given proper clothing to wear before he was to face his execution. If only he could grow his hair back over night. “I imagine this is quite shameful for you, to have to take the life of a man who was once your son.”

There was no sarcasm in Loki’s voice, only sincerity, though it didn’t appear to melt the heart of Odin any more than if he’d been derisive. Loki didn’t have enough strength left in him to play games, he felt like the last few months had been one long race and he was nearing the finish line now. He was ready to stop running now, he wanted nothing more than to rest. 

“Your mother and brother beg me incessantly to spare your life, why do you think this is?” Odin asked next, pacing slowly in front of the space in front of Loki’s cell, occasionally turning to look at his prisoner, hand gripping his spear. 

“They love me,” Loki answered without hesitation, momentarily feeling ill for both Frigga and Thor. While he may not fear his own death, he knew they both dreaded it. “They think there is a chance you will show me mercy because you once felt the same.”

“And what do you think? Do you think there is hope I will be merciful to you?” Odin stopped mid stride, his eye locking with Loki’s as he spoke. “Would you beg for your own life?” 

Loki swallowed hard, taking a moment before finally shaking his head. As much as he knew it would hurt Thor and his mother, he didn’t have it in him to plead for anything, much less his life. He hated the thought of disappointing them, but he knew at least Thor would understand why he couldn’t do it if he ever learned of this conversation. 

“I don’t believe you became one of the most feared beings in the Nine Realms by throwing mercy around,” Loki said to him finally, holding his hands behind his back as he faced his father, or the only father he’d ever really known. “If you show me clemency, it weakens your position, it shows what you will allow someone to get away with unchecked. I know what I have done, I am aware of my crimes, and I know the penalty for them. I will not plead you for my life, All-Father, if that’s what you came for, then I hate to disappoint you.”

“Are you aware of a plan of Thor’s to release you from prison?” Odin said, a little surprised so far with Loki’s answers. He was always a smart boy though, Odin had no doubt that he knew just what to say, they didn’t call Loki silver tongued for no reason. 

“I was aware he was forming a plan, through I didn’t know what it was. I assume it’s failed seeing that you know about it. I didn’t encourage him, if you’re asking, it was entirely his own doing,” Loki had a hard time keeping a straight face that time as he pictured how Thor must have felt knowing he failed the person he most loved. “He doesn’t want to face being without me, as I wouldn’t want to face being without him in his position. It’s much easier to be the dead one.”

Odin watched the man he’d once called his son for a moment, looking for any crack in his demeanor, anything that would hint this dejected, broken Loki was anything but sincere. Despite the love of Thor, Loki hadn’t changed much after coming home to Asgard from what the humans had done to him on Midgard. Odin was aware of everything that had transpired, Heimdall filling him in on all the details of Loki’s imprisonment and torture. Frigga had insisted that Loki had suffered enough at their hands, but Odin had disagreed, his own word being the final one, though he wasn’t oblivious to his wife’s pain through all this. Or his son’s. 

“He had informed me that he refuses to give up on you, despite you giving up on yourself,” Odin said, looking into Loki’s dull eyes, gripping his spear tighter. “Do you even want to live, Loki? Would a pardon be wasted on you?”

Loki perked up a bit, though he knew Odin’s wording didn’t mean that he was going to get one, it was purely a hypothetical situation. And, knowing the All-Father, it was likely to remain one. 

“I want to stay with Thor, more than anything I want to stay with him, whether I’m in this cell or not, as long as I’m with him, that is all I want. For both him and myself,” Loki said, his voice bordering on pleading as he forced himself to keep his eyes on Odin’s. “I want to live more for Thor, and for mother, than for myself. If it was just me, then…then I think I would welcome the axe.”

Odin seemed to take a moment to ponder this over, staring at Loki, his body still though Loki knew he was deep in thought by the look in his eye. He would have to hope that Odin was taking what he said to heart, that he cared more for Thor and Frigga’s reactions to this than his own pride and throne. He wasn’t holding his breath, however. 

“…I will see you in a few hours, Loki,” Odin said, his voice softer than it had been when he asked Loki his questions, but it seemed that nothing else had changed. The execution was still on, there was no point to anything that had just transpired, it only hurt more to see anther glimmer of hope only to have it extinguished. 

Loki nodded briefly at Odin, unable to speak as the lump in his throat grew. Turning, he went back to sit on his small bed, knowing now that Thor wasn’t coming for the last few hours he had left. He was to be alone until the end, a thought that weighed heavily on his heart. For the first time since he’d heard his verdict said aloud, Loki was frightened. 

\---

He’d been bound and chained to be lead up from the dungeon to where he was going to die, but Loki remained calm throughout his procession. It wasn’t a public execution, he was still a prince, but as Loki approached, he saw his mother and brother waiting for him to arrive, both with red-rimmed eyes. His heart ached at the sight of them, though he selfishly felt comfort knowing they were there for him. Though deep down, Loki knew they shouldn’t have to see him die, especially in so gruesome a manner. 

“You should take Mother from here,” Loki said as he was lead to the block, still standing before it. “I love you both, I don’t want you to have to see me lose my head.”

“We do not want you to be alone when you do,” Thor answered, keeping an arm around Frigga who was weeping openly. “We are not going to leave you now, Loki, do not try to argue with us. We love you too.”   
Loki tried to smile comfortingly, but could only frown, his shoulders sinking as his eyes stayed locked on Thor’s, his heart beating fast. He hated to see such sadness etched out on the face of the man he loved, and he hated it more to think that it was his own decisions that lead to Thor’s pain. Odin may be the one who ordered the execution, but it was Loki that committed the crimes, he was well aware of that. And while Thor should hate him for doing what he did, for hurting him so much, there was only compassion and love from his brother, which broke Loki’s heart even more. 

“On your knees, prisoner,” the executioner said, pushing down on Loki’s shoulder, forcing him down onto his knees before the block. His heavy hand pushed Loki forward next, resting his neck against the block so that he faced forward, once again looking at Thor and Frigga. He could do nothing for them, though, he could only watch them in their sorrow as they stood against the All-Father and for him in his hour of need. Though, even with them there to support him, Loki was truly afraid. 

“Loki Laufeyson, you are guilty of spreading destruction and death, and for your crimes against the people of Midgard, you are to meet your death,” Odin said, seemingly oblivious to the pain he was causing his wife and son, not to mention the child he adopted. “Do you have any last words?” 

“…please…please don’t do this, Father,” Loki begged Odin, his gaze still on Thor and Frigga, his heart aching for them. “For them, don’t do this to me. You can keep me imprisoned, you can keep me in chains, but please keep me so they can see me when they want…”

“Father, if you do this, if you kill him, I will never forgive you,” Thor spoke up, his voice shaking with anger as his fingers twitched on the handle of his hammer, ready to let loose with Mjolnir the second the executioner raised his axe to put an end to the situation his own way. He wasn’t going to let Loki die today, even if he had to disobey his father. “If you kill one son, you will lose the other, I assure you.”

“Odin, please…” was all Frigga could add, afraid for her son and the fallout this execution would cause in their family. She wasn’t prepared to lose Thor as well, but she understood why he would want to leave. 

Odin raised his hand to direct the axe to raise, though he paused as he stood still, regarding his family. This wasn’t what he expected when he first gave the order for Loki to die, he knew Thor had grown attached to him, but the anger and fear in his son’s expression was more than he’d bargained for. While he didn’t approve of the relationship between Thor and Loki, he’d been wrong when he thought it would be easy to break with Loki’s death. The execution would only serve to complicate manners rather than simplify them. 

“Wait…” Odin said, lowering his hand as he kept his eyes on Thor, not wanting to admit defeat but also not wanting to lose his only heir. He would have to break them apart one day, but this wasn’t the way. “Stop, I am issuing a pardon for the prisoner, his sentence will be served in a prison cell, not by the axe, until, in my wisdom, I deem him reformed. He suffered enough at the hands of the humans that captured him, it is not necessary to take his life.”

Loki could scarcely believe what he was hearing, he expected Thor to start swinging Mjolnir to save him, he didn’t expect to hear Odin change his mind. He couldn’t wrap his mind around it, even as the guards hauled him back to his feet, keeping a hold of his arms as they prepared to take him back to his cell. He was alive, he wasn’t going to be killed by his adopted father, he was going to see another day with Thor by his side, and…

He didn’t even see Thor approach him, he was just suddenly in front of Loki, taking his face into his hands and pressing an enthusiastic kiss against Loki’s lips before wrapping his arms around him. Loki longed to raise his own shackled hands up to touch Thor’s jaw and the short hair that covered it, but he was still held back by the guards, though that didn’t stop him from kissing Thor back just as enthusiastically. In that moment, he was free, and nothing mattered except Thor. 

“Return him to his cell,” Odin said, turning to head inside with Frigga close behind him, thanking him for changing his mind, though he didn’t want to hear it. He hadn’t done it for Loki, and even now he wasn’t sure of his decision, but he’d made it and now he must deal with the consequences. 

As the guards pulled Loki back, his lips broke away from Thor’s with a whimper, though there was a grin on both of their faces when they looked at each other again. They would both be together again that night as always, to make love or just lie in each others arms, without the thought of death hanging over them. They could celebrate for once after living without anything to look forward to, it was a wonderful notion to both, something they’d needed for so very long. 

“I must return to my cell, will I see you later?” Loki said, a smile still on his face as the guards began to lead him away. Imprisoned or not, he felt as if he’d been restored. He would have to thank Thor properly later for standing up for him, and their mother when he saw her next, but he figured it was going to be quite a while before he saw Odin again. It was all for the better though, it wasn’t as if he missed his adopted father’s company. 

“I will be there, you have my word,” Thor smiled back, raising his hand in a wave as Loki was taken back down into the dungeons. After checking on their mother to make sure she was alright after the events of the day, Thor would join him as promised, bringing him down some books or something to help him pass the time when Thor would have to eventually leave again. His schedule wasn’t always as open as Thor may like, having his duties to the realm after all, but he wouldn’t forget about Loki for a second. He would do what he could to spend at much time with Loki as he could during his time in prison, and when the day came when Odin let him out, they would be together properly. 

Until that day came, though it couldn’t come soon enough for him, Thor would love and protect his brother as always, wherever he may be.


End file.
